One Piece at a Time
by boswifedeb
Summary: There's a killer in the Mojave Desert and Matt is called in to help the FBI with the case. **Immediately follows "Something to be Thankful For"** Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

"**One Piece at a Time"**

****Immediately follows "Something to be Thankful For"****

"**If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, **

**you'd best teach it to dance." George Bernard Shaw**

****Dedicated to my son. Thanks for the idea!****

**CHAPTER 1**

"Houston, I'd like you to meet Alexander Bateaux." Michael Hoyt introduced his best friend to the FBI agent that had ridden out with him.

"Mr. Bateaux." Matt shook the man's hand.

"I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice." The unmistakable drawl of Louisiana was an accent that Matt hadn't heard in quite a while.

"No problem." Matt had spent the bulk of his day moving cattle down from the canyons on his ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains before getting a call from Hoyt. "Michael says that you're with the FBI. What can I do for you?" He was taking the saddle off of Cricket, his favorite horse. After removing the saddle and blanket, he slipped off the bridle and put a blue halter on the horse and started for the back end of the barn. The horse followed right behind the private investigator as if she were a dog. The FBI agent gave Hoyt a puzzled look as they started down the hallway. Matt opened the gate to the pasture and received a nuzzle from Cricket before she walked on through and took off across the green grass.

"Uh, well…" The agent looked around.

Closing the gate, the private eye turned to look at the agent. "Nobody is going to hear us out here if that's what you're afraid of, Mr. Bateaux."

"Okay. I just want to stress how much caution we need to exercise…"

"Mr. Bateaux, I'm gonna tell you something." The cowboy removed his leather work gloves and smacked them against his right thigh, causing a cloud of dust to erupt from the brown chaps that he wore. "The only reason that I'm even talking to you is because of Michael here. I don't have a real good track record with the FBI; quite frankly, I'm surprised you're here. I figured that Agent Hooten had me on the "Do Not Talk To" list."

"I'm sorry – I don't understand." The puzzled agent looked between Michael and Matt.

"Houston here has had a few run-ins with Agent Floyd Hooten. Their work styles don't exactly mesh." Hoyt had his doubts if Matt would be able to work with Bateaux, but since the Chief of Police had asked him to introduce the two men, he was trying his best to ease Matt's distrust of FBI agents in general.

"Oh, I see…well, Mr. Houston if it makes you feel any better, I don't get along with Hooten either. Actually I don't know of anyone who does." Bateaux looked the man square in the eye. "I've been told that you are the best detective around; the men that told me about you speak highly of your abilities and insight."

"And who might these men be?" Matt leaned back against the gate and removed the hat from his head, wiping the sweat from the band inside with a bandanna. Although it was early December, the temperature had been near ninety degrees that afternoon.

"Mitchell Gunterson and Carl Roper."

"Both of 'em are good men; you've got my attention." Matt settled the hat back on his head. "Now what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"There have been a series of murders in the Mojave Desert. Up until four months ago, it was thought that they were all unrelated. Now we're not so sure."

"What makes you think they're tied together all of the sudden?"

"One of our forensics people seems to think that they are the work of one person because of what is missing from each body that's been found. Now each person wasn't killed in the same manner – some were shot, others were stabbed, part of them were strangled, and some of them were even hung. There's also a possibility that some were poisoned. But as I said, one of our forensics people thinks they're tied together."

"So are they all missing an ear or arm or what?"

"That's the thing. None of the victims are missing the same exact part. Each one is missing a different bone."

"Well that's different." Matt was surprised to say the least.

"Yes it is. We were wondering if you would take a look through the records and see what you can come up with on them. But we don't want to go public with it; it needs to be kept quiet. As in no one can know about it outside of the three of us – plus the law enforcement officers and the bureau."

"My wife is my partner in the agency – we work together or not at all." Without CJ the detective agency would never had gotten as successful as it was and Matt was fully aware of that fact.

"We would prefer not to have anyone else…"

"Then you would prefer to leave right now." Matt's stare at the agent was unwavering and his voice had dropped down an octave; both characteristics were causing the agent to feel extremely uncomfortable.

"The Houstons are a package deal, Agent Bateaux. I can personally vouch for his wife – as can Gunterson."

"I would really prefer…" Bateaux stopped as Matt walked right past him down the hallway of the barn headed for the house.

"See ya later, Michael." Houston wasn't fond of the cloak-and-dagger baggage that came with the FBI – nor was he fond of the superior attitude that was usually associated with the agents.

"I thought you said he was reasonable, Lieutenant?" Anger crept into Agent Bateaux's voice.

"He is…but he won't tolerate someone coming to him for help and then tying his hands with stipulations. If you want his help, you get hers as well. And I'm here to tell you: with the problem you've got you want both of them."

"I should have known better than to come to a civilian. Your chief will hear about this."

Matt turned on his heel and marched back down the hallway of the barn, his eyes looking like lasers ready to slice through the agent. "Don't you dare try to cause this man any grief. He's not to blame here – you are." He got right up in the man's face, reminding Hoyt of a recruit division commander that he had mistakenly ticked off during his Navy boot camp days. "And you might want to polish your investigation skills: I might be a civilian now, but I have served this country in ways that would absolutely blow your mind." During his outburst, the cowboy had not blinked or taken a breath and he was still nose to nose with the FBI agent. "As far as the chief hearing about my lack of cooperation he might just laugh in your face. He and I have already had a couple of go-arounds."

Bateaux was stunned. "I'm sorry, Mr. Houston; sincerely." He swallowed hard. "Would your wife be available to discuss the case now?"

Taking a deep breath, Matt spun around and took a few steps away from the man, visibly trying to calm down. He turned back around. "She's up at the house. Come on." Bateaux followed quickly and Hoyt was doing his very best not to snicker, but couldn't help it.

"Shut up, cop." The PI hadn't missed any of it, but couldn't help but grin himself. At least after the hunting trip to Texas over the Thanksgiving holiday Michael seemed more relaxed than he had in a long time. As they approached the patio of the sprawling house, Chantilly ran out to meet her master. The half Blue Heeler – half Husky puppy was now almost full grown and weighed right at fifty pounds. "Hey there, Tilly. Did you behave at the vet's office?" The dog was so happy to see the cowboy that she jumped right into his arms and began licking his face, causing him to laugh. He put her back down on the patio and the minute she spied Agent Bateaux, she immediately began to growl, stopping the man in his tracks. "Tilly, sit." Matt gave her the firm command and she quickly obeyed, but didn't take her eyes off of the stranger and didn't quit growling. "Mr. Bateaux, would you walk over here – real slow?" The agent was clearly scared, but did as Matt asked. "Tilly, this is Mr. Bateaux. Tell him hello." The dog offered up her right paw, no longer growling but watching the man carefully. The agent shook her paw. "Now be nice, Tilly." The dog didn't growl anymore, but stayed near Matt and didn't take her eyes off of the stranger.

Michael walked closer. "How are you, Chantilly?" He reached down and patted the dog who nuzzled his hand. "She's very protective, Bateaux – but she's also very smart."

"Okay." The man swallowed hard.

"Let's go on in the kitchen and see if CJ can join us." Matt headed for the house and opened the kitchen door to find his wife and daughter headed out to the patio. "Hey there, Lady Bug." He leaned over and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. "Babe, this is Agent Bateaux with the FBI. He wants us to look over some files."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." CJ smiled warmly and extended her hand to the man who looked at Tilly before he shook her hand. "I see you've already met Tilly."

"Yes ma'am."

Sheila walked into the kitchen just then and CJ turned to the nanny. "Can you take Catey for a little bit? Matt and I have some work to do."

"Sure thing. Come to Sheila, darlin'." She took the child and headed back into the den.

"Do you boys want some coffee?" The lawyer headed for the counter.

"You know I won't turn it down." Matt took off his hat and set it on top of the fridge before going to the sink and washing his hands.

"I'm game." Michael sat down at the table as did the FBI agent.

"That sounds good." Bateaux had relaxed slightly since meeting CJ, but was still wary of the dog, who had not taken her eyes off of him.

CJ brought the pot and four mugs over to the table and had a seat. "Now, what can we do for you?" Bateaux then told her what he had told Matt and got the same exact reaction from her. "Okay, where are the files?"

The agent pulled a flash drive out of his pocket. "This contains all of the files that our forensics specialist has tagged – so far. She's still looking. When I spoke to her this morning she was looking at records from four years ago."

Matt spoke up. "Does she have any idea how long this has been going on?"

"Not yet – when I talked to her about an hour ago she had just flagged three more files as possibles." He handed the flash drive to Matt. "There are over fifty case files on there."

The PI took a sip of the coffee and rubbed the beard on his face. "Let's see – there are about 206 bones in the human body if I remember correctly. Umph." He thought and stroked Tilly's head that was resting on his knee. "Is there any particular area in the desert where the bodies have been found or have they been scattered?"

"Scattered. There have been bodies found in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah." He pulled a notebook out of his jacket pocket and wrote down a name and number. "This is the number for Sarah Morrison – the forensics specialist who first noticed the similarities." He slid the paper across to Matt.

"Alright." The cowboy looked at the paper. "We'll get started on it. Is there a number where I can reach you?"

The agent slid his card across the table and Tilly tensed up. Matt looked down at the dog. "Tilly, he's okay." The pup relaxed a little bit and put her head on the cowboy's thigh and he continued to pet her. "Look, I'm sorry if I came across as a jerk earlier. I just don't like the attitude that I usually get from agents."

"I understand – especially since you've had to deal with Hooten." Bateaux grinned and laughed. "Just don't judge all of us by him, please." The agent looked down at the dog. "Is it okay if I leave now, Tilly?" The pup wagged her tail. "I tell you what; a pit bull has nothing on her." He laughed as he stood up.

Michael finished his coffee and stood to leave, giving CJ a peck on the cheek. "Try to keep him out of trouble, Counselor."

"You're kidding, right?" She gave him a smile and walked out onto the patio with Matt. Tilly followed along, still keeping an eye on the agent.

As Michael's car went down the driveway, Matt looked down at the dog. "She doesn't like the FBI either." He cracked up as he put an arm around his wife and headed back into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

After getting a shower and change of clothes, Matt and CJ headed in to the office. When they stepped off of the elevator Chris Chase, their secretary was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe she's in the powder room." CJ headed on into the main part of the office and started the ever present pot of coffee as her husband stepped over the back of the couch and pulled up BABY, the computer that he used most often in his investigations. As he waited for it to boot up, he heard a sound coming from down in the gym. He looked over at CJ, who had heard it, too. "I'll go check on her." The lawyer turned PI headed for the stairs.

Matt pulled the flash drive that Agent Bateaux had given him out of his jeans pocket and popped it into a USB port, transferring the files onto the computer. Next he made a copy of them and headed into CJ's office for another flash drive to put them on. As he came back out, CJ and Chris were coming up the stairs. "Hey…are you okay, Chris?" The secretary was completely pale.

"Guess I've got a stomach bug or something." She was shaky.

"I'm going to take her on home. Be back in a little bit." CJ gave her husband a quick kiss and then guided Chris to her desk to pick up her purse and then onto the elevator.

"Feel better – and take off if you need to, okay?"

"Thanks, Houston." Even her voice was shaky. Matt watched Chris as she got on the elevator and his eyes met hers. He had a feeling that it wasn't a stomach bug. The secretary had married Murray Chase the CEO of Houston Industries about four months earlier. Matt's intuition told him that the she was pregnant.

He went back to the computer and started getting the files organized into six categories: approximate date of death, when the bodies were found, where the bodies were found, sex, manner of death, and finally by what bone was missing. When CJ got back he was studying the information about the approximate dates of death. She poured two cups of coffee and stepped over the back of the couch.

"I got her home and she's resting on the couch." CJ took a sip of coffee.

"She's pregnant." Matt took the coffee from his wife and saw the shocked look on her face.

"When did she tell you?"

"She didn't." He leaned back and put an arm around her.

"Then how do you know? She told me she just took one of the home pregnancy tests this morning. She hasn't even told Murray yet."

"It's just…I don't know, kind of a vibe I guess." Matt took another sip. "It's like when I first started to think you were pregnant. Remember when we were working the case with the plastic surgeons that were being murdered? That's when I noticed it first."

"So what did you notice, oh great and powerful swami?" She laughed.

"I don't know; like I said it's kind of like a vibe…just a feeling." He pulled her closer and kissed her. "I hope to have that feeling again before too much longer." Stroking her cheek, he pulled her even closer and the kiss deepened.

"Uh huh, well…" CJ was slightly rattled. She hadn't been expecting that answer. Matt turned back to the computer and she watched him for a moment, considering the facts: Matt had said all along during her pregnancy with Catey that she was expecting a girl; he had also had more than one vision when he was helping Homeland Security track down the cult leader who had planned to detonate an explosion at the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Base. She put those thoughts aside for the time being. "So what have you got so far?" Matt explained what he had done while she was gone and they both started to study the information.

By 7:00 that night, the pair decided that it was quitting time and headed for home, stopping by their favorite Chinese restaurant on the way. CJ couldn't help but think about the fortune cookies that she and Matt had gotten from Fu Chow's when working the plastic surgeon cases. Both cookies had the same fortune: "A new addition is in your future." She had been considering telling Matt that she was ready to try for another baby, but thought maybe they should wait until January. Although Catey was only eight months old, it had taken her almost six months to get pregnant before and since she and Matt hadn't confessed to how they really felt about each other until a couple of years ago, they were running behind on starting a family.

They were joined in the kitchen by their nanny, Sheila Wentworth as they sat down to eat. "I believe that there's something in here for you….General Tso's chicken, right?" Matt pulled out the paper box and smiled as he sat it on the table in front of the nurse.

"Oh, you remembered!" She smiled and then shook her head no as the PI handed her a set of chopsticks. "I love the food but hate the chop sticks. I'll stick to a fork, thanks anyway." All three laughed. Matt slipped Tilly a piece of pepper steak here and there as they ate. "No wonder she likes you so much." Sheila had brought the dog with her when she moved into the Houston household and now Chantilly had decided that everyone in the house belonged to her. She followed Matt around tirelessly and had helped him to herd cows on several occasions now.

"I sure could have used her help this morning. Some of those cows and calves didn't want to come out of the canyons." He patted the dog on the head.

"I can't believe she just knows how to do that." Sheila looked over at the pup.

"It's instinct…"Matt took a sip of tea. "She's really good."

"So you two have a new case I take it?"

"Uh huh. We can't say much about it though. FBI." Matt rolled his eyes.

"That man was an FBI agent?" She put down the fork. "Wow, I've never seen one before."

"Believe it or not they walk around on two legs and put on pants just like the rest of us." Matt grinned as he finished off the rice.

"That's not true: you've started dressing like a fireman since you started hanging out with Rich." CJ poked her husband in the ribs.

"I never know when they're going to call me in the middle of the night. It pays to have your clothes ready to go." He had gotten in the habit of laying out his clothes the night before, putting the legs of his jeans over the tops of the work boots that he now wore more often than his cowboy boots. After slipping a time or two in a fire scene he had taken Fire Marshal Rich Holt's advice and switched to the rubber soled boots: they had a lot better traction.

CJ and Matt reached for a fortune cookie at the same time and their eyes met: both of them were thinking back to the twin fortunes that they had gotten before. The pair smiled. "Ready?" Matt grinned as he tore the plastic on the cookie that he had picked up. "On the count of three."

"Hold on, let me in on this." Sheila picked up one of the cookies and tore the wrapper.

"Alright…one….two…three." They all broke the cookies and pulled out the fortunes. "You first, CJ." Matt hadn't even looked at his yet.

"Let's see…" She opened the slip of paper. "Prepare for the future." She looked at her husband. "Your turn."

Matt opened up the paper. "Prepare for the future." He smiled as he looked at his wife.

"Okay, mine says…" Sheila opened hers. "A new addition is in your future." Matt and CJ burst into laughter. Looking at the pair, the nanny asked, "Is there something I should know?" Neither one could answer her for laughing too hard.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Wednesday morning rolled around and Matt was on the way in to the office when his phone rang. He looked at the phone but wasn't sure about the number. Hitting the speaker button, he answered. "Houston."

"Mr. Houston, Alexander Bateaux. I hope this isn't too early to call you." The FBI agent sounded slightly nervous.

"No, I'm on my way to the office right now. We've got the files loaded into the computer and have started going through them but we haven't come up with anything just yet." _Surely he doesn't think we've solved it that quick. _

"I would be surprised if you had. No, I was calling to tell you that it looks like we might have another one. I got a call from the sheriff in La Paz County, Arizona." Matt was wondering how the sheriff knew to contact that particular agent and was about to ask when Bateaux continued. "He's found about five of the bodies now – he knows what we're looking at."

"Ah ha, I was wondering. Okay…" He thought for a minute. "Are you planning on flying or driving?"

"Well, it looks like flying is out of the question. Some of our planes have been grounded for repairs and I can't requisition one for the trip."

"How do you feel about helicopters?"

"Uh, they're fine, I guess, but I can't get one."

"Sure you can. Come to my office."

"No, I really can't get one, Mr. Houston. It looks like we're going to have to drive."

"I've got a helicopter sitting on the patio at my office, Agent Bateaux." Matt chuckled.

"Oh…that's right, Lt. Hoyt told me you were a pilot. I just assumed he meant planes. Okay, uh, are you sure it's okay?"

"Well it's my helicopter; I guess I can do it if I want…" He laughed again.

"Alright. I need the address." Matt rattled it off. "Okay, I guess I'll see you in about thirty minutes or so. Thanks."

"Not a problem. See ya." Matt disconnected the call and pushed CJ's number on speed dial. "Hey Babe, looks like I'm going to be taking the chopper to Parker, Arizona. I just got a call from Bateaux." He explained.

"Alright. By the way, Chris just called me. She's taking today off." She snickered. "She told Murray last night – and thought he was going to pass out."

"Well I'm happy for 'em."

"And she was kind of freaked out when I told her what you said yesterday."

"Oh boy…she wasn't mad was she?"

"No, just shocked. You boys be careful out there and Matt – don't be mean to the FBI okay?" She laughed.

"Yes ma'am, I promise to play nice. Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too, Cowboy. 'Bye." She hung up smiling.

When Matt got to the office he pulled up BABY and started sifting through the information that they had so far, concentrating on the bodies that had been found near La Paz County, Arizona. Matt had information on four of the bodies: all four were women. Two of them had been shot, one appeared to have been strangled due to the damage to the hyoid bone, and one was thought to have been possibly poisoned – no clear cause of death was found in that case. The elevator chimed and Matt stood up to see Agent Bateaux step into view. "I'm in here."

The agent came up the steps into the main part of the office and stopped in front of the hot tub. "Wow…the lieutenant told me that your office was spectacular." He grinned.

"Spectacular, huh?" The PI laughed. "I remember Michael's first visit up here."

"That sure isn't a standard computer monitor you've got there is it?" The agent walked down and got a look at it. "That is nice." Matt shut down the computer and closed it up. "And that is just _lisse_."

"Uh huh, I thought you sounded like you were from Louisiana." Matt grinned. "Are you ready?"

"I am."

The PI started for the door to the patio when the elevator chimed again. He turned to see who it was. CJ stepped up into the office. "You got here just in time." The PI walked over to his wife and pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss. "I'll call you later."

"Alright. Good to see you again, Agent Bateaux."

"You, too."

"You boys try to stay out of trouble and I'm going to get started on what we have here." She watched as the two headed out onto the patio and climbed into the helicopter. Matt had it airborne in short order and took off.

Bateaux waited until Matt had the chopper up and clear of the neighboring sky scrapers before he spoke again. "I want to apologize for yesterday, Mr. Houston."

"Well I won't accept it – until you quit calling me mister – everybody calls me Houston." Matt looked over at the agent. "And I need to apologize myself."

"Okay, fair enough. Most people call me Alex." The agent loosened up his tie.

"So what part of Louisiana are you from?"

"Shreveport. What about you? I know you're not from Louisiana…you sound like Texas."

"Yep. Born in Lubbock and raised from the age of five in Houston." They flew along in silence for a minute. "You ever do any fishing at Caddo Lake?"

"Huh…I literally lived there in the summer. My grandparents on my dad's side had a little bait shop right on the lake."

"Man I would sure like to go back there. The last time I was there…" The PI thought for a minute. "Gosh, it wasn't too long after I got out of the army. Way too long."

"I was there last summer. My grandparents passed away and I was there for the funeral. I went fishing after it was over. It seemed like a good way to say goodbye, you know?"

"Yep." Matt nodded. "My dad was with me last time I went. I'll never forget it." He laughed. "Daddy loved fishing, especially largemouth bass. But not me, I always went for catfish. He hooked into what he thought was a big bass on that trip. You should've seen his face when he got that big ole cat to the boat." He laughed harder.

"I like them all. Doesn't matter what kind."

The two continued on talking about fishing and their childhood years and before they knew it, Matt was landing at the Avi Suquilla Airport where they were greeted by Deputy Dan Plankman. After he got the helicopter squared away and tended to, Matt walked back to join the other two as they rode out to the scene where the latest body had been found. As they rode along in the Jeep down Shea Road, the dust and sand made a cloud behind the vehicle. Several miles outside of town, they turned onto a trail for a short distance and Matt could see the activity that was centered around what the private eye thought was the base of part of the Buckskin Mountains.

Getting out of the jeep, he tugged his baseball cap tighter on his head. "Sheriff Manuel Garza, Matt Houston." Bateaux introduced the two men.

"Nice to meet you. She's over here." The sheriff gestured back over his shoulder. "I may have some good news…good for us anyway. We think we might know who she is."

"That could certainly be helpful." The FBI agent and the private eye squatted down next to the body. The remains were partially mummified.

"From the looks of her I'd say she's been dead about a year." Houston stood up and looked around the area where the wind was whipping up dust devils. "Not exactly a pristine crime scene but…" He turned around in a circle surveying the area. "Who found her?"

Garza motioned in the direction of the airport. "A tourist was about to land at the airport. He saw something and pointed it out to his wife. She pulled out the binoculars and…well, let's just say he had to clean up a mess in the floorboard of his plane." The sheriff gave a slightly crooked grin.

"Not good for the tourism trade, huh?" Matt nodded. "So who do you think she is?"

"I can't be one hundred percent sure, but I think it might be Annabelle Reynolds. She was a waitress down at the diner and just up and disappeared about a year ago…she and her boyfriend had been having problems and we figured Annabelle had just left."

"Did you talk to the boyfriend?" Bateaux was now standing and brushing dust off of his suit pants.

"No, like I say we just thought she had left him. She had threatened it several times and everybody just figured that she finally did it."

Matt had walked toward the base of the mountains and was leaning over looking at some tracks in the dust. "Is he still around?"

"Yeah, he's still here. Works at one of the groceries in town."

Turning and heading back toward the body, Matt removed his ball cap and wiped sweat from his brow, then put the hat back on as he spoke. "I don't think she's been here the whole time. Or been outside anywhere for that matter." He pointed back over his shoulder. "There are coyote tracks over there – pretty fresh. Probably from last night. It looks like a couple of 'em came down to check out the body and then turned away from it. If it had been here for any length of time there would be more damage from scavengers and there isn't any. The only thing that looks to me like it's missing is her right kneecap."

"So she was most likely left here sometime yesterday or last night." Bateaux walked back to the body. "What else do you know about the boyfriend?"

Sheriff Garza took off his cowboy hat and fanned himself. "Like I said, he works at the SpendLess grocery in town. It's a small operation. He's a meat cutter and stocker. The only reason I know him is because that's where I usually shop. Wayne Bell isn't the friendliest person in the world but he's never been in trouble for anything other than a drunk and disorderly. Come to think of it that was right about the time that Annabelle left."

As he finished speaking, a van pulled in beside the Jeep. "That's our coroner. He's one of the docs in town."

A man of about sixty with a balding head emerged from the van and shoved a boonie hat on his head. Matt heard a muttered curse and Garza chuckled. "Dr. Howard Lawrence, this is Matt Houston, a private eye from LA and you remember Agent Bateaux I'm sure."

Lawrence shook hands with the two men. "Welcome to hell."

Garza chuckled once again. "Doc here has been swearing for the last twenty years that he's leaving our fair city."

"Twenty years? Try more like thirty." He ambled over to the body. "My wife made me move here so that she could be near her mother. Said she didn't have much longer. Bull…that old battle-axe will probably outlive us all." The three younger men snickered. Lawrence grunted as he knelt next to the body and looked up at his audience. "I suppose you boys just love your mother-in-law; is that it?"

Matt and Bateaux spoke at the same time: "I don't have one."

"Mine's sweet as pie." The sheriff grinned.

"Yes she is, Manuel. Wanna trade?"

"Nooooo siree."

Lawrence grunted again. "Buncha lucky bastards, aren't ya?" He put on a pair of gloves. "Well this girl wasn't. She's been dead about a year give or take. There's the cause most likely – the hyoid is broken – somebody likely strangled her." After another couple of minutes he stood back up. "Dan, grab a body bag and that gurney out of the back, would ya?" A gust of wind came along and threatened to blow the boonie off of his head. "God-forsaken hellhole." He put his hand on top of the hat holding it in place. "She's probably mid-twenties, white. You can see the brunette hair."

"Think it could be Annabelle Reynolds?" Garza put his hat back on.

"Son of a gun." The doc looked at the body again. "You know, it could be…"

"Let's pay a visit to Wayne Bell." Garza turned back to his SUV. "Dan, help the doc finish up here, would you?"

"Yes sir, sure will." The deputy was putting on a pair of gloves when the sheriff pulled away.

"Sheriff, why wasn't the doc out there before we got here?" The PI was sitting in the front passenger seat.

"He had an emergency. One of his patients had a heart attack in his office."

"Guess if you're going to have one that's the place to be."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Sheriff Garza, flanked by Agent Bateaux and Houston, walked into the SpendLess Grocery store. The cashier looked up from reading a tabloid and smiled. "Hi, Sheriff."

"Hey Shelley, how're you doing today?" Garza leaned against the wall of the elevated front office.

"Bored to tears. It's been real slow today and that worries me. It's not good for job security." She folded up the paper and stuck it behind the cash register. "I see you brought some friends with you…planning a cookout?"

"No, but I sure wish I was. Is Wayne Bell around?"

Shelly's face clouded and she looked around to make sure that no one would hear her and then beckoned the sheriff closer. She spoke just above a whisper. "He called out this morning, told Mavis that he was sick…" The cashier shook her head. "I answered the phone – he was drunk as a skunk. That's the third time in as many weeks."

"Alright. Have you got his home address handy?"

"I don't know the apartment number but he lives in those apartments over on Fourteenth. It should be on the mailbox out front…or you could look for a big stack of beer cans." The last was said with a sad smile. "I probably shouldn't ask why you're looking for him, should I?"

"No, but thanks for your help. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anybody – especially Mavis. Know what I mean?"

"Uh huh. That's why I was whispering. Be careful out there."

"I will, hon. See you later." Garza turned and headed out the door and the three men got back in the SUV, Matt wiping sweat off his brow again as Garza wiped the sweat band in his hat. "Boy we sure got a warm one today."

"Yep, it was near ninety degrees at home yesterday. And those cattle didn't want to move out of the shade of the canyons either." He chuckled.

"Cattle, huh? Alex said you're from LA – but you sure as hell weren't born there. I think there's some Texas twang in there."

"Yes sir, raised in Houston."

"That fits with the name I guess."

A few minutes later they pulled up to an older apartment building. On the mailboxes in the ground floor alcove they found Bell's name on the box for C-7. As they headed up the stairs the usual sounds of apartment life were heard: TV talk shows and game shows, music, a baby crying. Matt immediately thought of Catey Rose and wondered what she was up to, then put the thought at the back of his mind as Garza knocked on the door of C-7. Out of habit, Matt was next to the wall of the building and reached behind him, putting his hand on the pistol that was tucked into the waistband of his jeans. The sheriff looked at him. "Done this a time or two have you?"

"More than I care to remember actually."

There was no answer. Garza knocked again. "Wayne, it's Sheriff Garza – need to talk to you a minute, please."

"'Kay, be there in a second." The sound of someone shuffling around could be heard as well as the sound of beer cans hitting the floor. Matt and Alex exchanged a look.

"Sounds like Shelly was right." The FBI agent shook his head.

Finally the door was opened. Wayne Bell's unshaven face was wrinkled up as he squinted at the sunlight that hit him full force when he opened the door. "Is something wrong?"

"We're not sure, Wayne. Mind if we come in and talk for a minute?" Garza noted the bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol.

"Sure…it's kind of a mess in here, but you're welcome to come in. Here…" He picked up a laundry basket full of clothes destined for the laundromat and moved some magazines and newspapers to the coffee table. "Have a seat, fellas." He walked over to a chair and sat down himself, then abruptly jumped up as he realized that he had sat on a can. Slightly blushing he put it in a trashcan nearby and sat back down. "I'm not in trouble am I…I mean, I haven't been anywhere or anything…"

"We've got a little problem and we thought you might be able to help us." Garza took off his hat and leaned back on the couch. "Have you heard from Annabelle?"

Pain showed clearly in Bell's eyes. He shook his head and looked down as tears welled up. He started to speak but couldn't, then cleared his throat and tried again. "Not since the day she left. It's been eleven months and twenty three days."

Matt watched the man carefully and came to the conclusion that if he had murdered Annabelle he was the best actor going and needed to be in Hollywood.

"No postcards, phone calls, nothing at all?" Garza looked over at the other two detectives.

"No sir, she didn't even…" He stopped and cleared his throat again and looked back up at the sheriff. "She didn't even take her clothes or anything else. She even left Black Beard here." Seeing the strange looks on the three men's faces he explained. "Her parrot." Motioning to an empty birdcage, Bell spoke in a strangled voice. "He died last night. I took him out to my uncle's place and buried him…I didn't know what else to do."

"Wayne, I'm sure sorry to hear that." He looked at Matt who nodded as did Alex. "I hate to bother you right now, but do you have any of her stuff here – toothbrush, hairbrush, anything like that?"

"Yeah, it's all still here just like she left it. I just keep hoping every day that she'll come on home and it's just been a bad dream." He got up and headed toward the hallway and stopped in his tracks. Slowly he turned to face the men. "Why?"

"Have a seat." Garza got up and went to him, edging him toward the chair. "Sit down. I don't know of any good way to tell you this but we think maybe Annabelle didn't leave…we think she might have been murdered."

Bell was in shock. His eyes and mouth flew open and he gasped. "No, no, no…" He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "No, she can't be. We were going to get married. I got a ring. I was about to pop the question and then we had a little fight over taking out the trash before she went to work and she never came back." Reopening his eyes, the man looked up at Garza. "Please tell me it's not true."

"We're not sure, see that's why we need a toothbrush or hairbrush – so we can check the DNA." He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "There was a body found out near the Buckskins this morning. Now we don't know for sure that it's her, okay? But this lady has been dead about as long as Annabelle has been gone, and she's about the right size and age." Bell completely lost it. He broke down and bawled. "Just tell me where it is and I'll get it okay?"

"In the bathroom. It's a red brush right there on the shelf." He could barely get the words out and started screaming hysterically.

"Have you got an evidence bag?" Matt pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket and put them on as Garza reached into a shirt pocket and pulled out a couple of plastic bags and handed them to him. The PI and Alex headed back to the bathroom. "Would you ask him if the pink toothbrush belongs to her?" The agent nodded and went back into the living room, coming back to Matt in just a minute.

"It's hers." He watched as Matt put the toothbrush into the second bag and sealed it up before they headed back out to the living room.

"I called Dan to come stay with him until his uncle can make it." There was a knock at the door and Matt went to open it. Dan Plankman was standing there and stepped on inside.

"Wayne and I went to school together. Man this sucks." Walking over he knelt down next to the distraught man's chair and was immediately grabbed. "Steady there, Wayne. Now we don't know for sure if it's her, okay? Try to calm down."

"Think you'll be okay?" Garza looked to the deputy who nodded. He motioned to the other two and they went outside, all three taking a deep breath simultaneously before heading down to the SUV and going to the department. Once in the parking lot Garza took the bags from Matt. "You're a private eye, huh?"

"Yes sir…I'm also a consultant to the LAPD and the Fire Marshal's office."

"AND he's worked with the DEA and ATF before, too. At least that's what Lt. Hoyt tells me." Bateaux got out of the vehicle.

"Get around, do ya?" Garza grinned. Matt grinned as he got out and they headed inside to drop off the evidence. They stood out in the hallway as the sheriff talked to the lab tech and came out looking agitated. "It may be several days before we get the results back." He blew out a breath. "Don't guess there's really much else we can do right now."

"I can get it processed at the lab in LA." The agent looked at Garza. "It should be a little quicker – I hope."

"Let's go in here and get you to sign the log, and then I'll give you boys a lift to the airport." A few minutes later they were back in the SUV for the short drive to the airport where the helicopter stood ready to go. "Houston, it was nice to meet you. Come back and see us again some time." Garza shook with the PI.

"I might just take you up on it." Matt headed over and climbed up in the chopper, flipping switches and starting the rotor. He looked over to see the FBI agent and the sheriff in a conversation and then Bateaux turned away laughing. Garza looked over at Matt and waved. Matt nodded as Alex climbed inside and put on the headset. "So what's so funny?" He looked around to make sure everything was clear and then lifted off from the asphalt, slowing turning and gaining altitude as he put the chopper on the path to LA.

"He wanted to know if you were the same guy that designs video games." Bateaux laughed and then looked at the PI. "You're not mad are you?"

"No, but I am the guy who designs video games." The look of shock on the agent's face was priceless.

"No way, man. You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. I've been working with Derwin Dunlap for a couple of years now. We've got a line of surveillance gear out, too. Maybe you've heard of it – BugBytes?"

"Holy crap – that's YOU?!"

"Yep. Lil ole me." Matt grinned as he adjusted the ball cap on his head.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Landing on the penthouse patio of the Houston Industries building at just after 4:00PM, Matt parted ways with Alex Bateaux in the parking garage. As he got into his truck, the PI pulled out his phone and hit CJ's number on speed dial before dropping the truck into gear and pulling out into traffic.

"Hi Cowboy, where are you?"

"Pulling out of the parking garage and heading home. How about you?"

"I'm about five minutes ahead of you. How did it go?" She listened as he told her what had happened. "Wow…well it would be good for us if we could identify her but it would be terrible for Bell. Do you really think he's innocent?"

"Yeah I do; and so did Garza and Alex. He completely lost it before we left. That parrot dying really upset him, too." His stomach growled. "So what's for supper tonight?"

"I don't know – Sheila's cooking tonight." The nanny had fit right into the Houston household. "Whatever it is I'm sure it'll be good."

"Yep. Guess I'll see you in a little bit. Love you."

"You too. 'Bye."

As he made his way through the late afternoon traffic, Matt kept turning the case over in his mind. They were looking at over fifty deaths that they knew of so far that stretched over four states and at least four years. If they could identify more of the bodies then they might be able to learn when the victims disappeared and come up with a better picture of the timeline. With that in place a pattern might emerge that would point them in the right direction.

CJ and Catey were waiting for him on the patio. The now eight month old squealed when he got out of the truck and Tilly ran up to greet him. "How are all my ladies doing tonight?" He gave Tilly a pat on the head and kissed CJ as Uncle Roy walked out onto the patio. Matt reached to take his daughter and she did something that she had never done before.

"Daddy!"

Matt froze. "What did you say?"

"Daddy!" Catey seemed very proud of herself.

The cowboy felt his heart leap and a lump came up in his throat.

"Finally!" CJ laughed. Catey had spoken Cricket's name about a month earlier but that had been her only word until that day.

Taking his daughter into his arms and giving her a hug he looked at his wife. "Wow!"

Roy joined them. "I guess she decided it was time." He patted his nephew on the back as Sheila came outside.

"Did I just hear what I thought I heard?" The nanny was beaming.

"You sure did." CJ looked at her husband who still looked astounded. "Catey, I think you just shocked him."

Supper that night was one of Matt's favorites: steak fajitas. Sheila had gotten the recipe from the Houston's house keeper in Texas, Madre Rosa. Leaning over, Matt gave the nanny a kiss on the cheek. "Ya did good, Sheila, real good."

"Well, thank you. I'll have to let Madre Rosa know that it was a success." She beamed.

Later on that night after Matt and Catey had gone for their usual ride on Cricket and she had been bathed and put to bed, CJ and Matt were cuddled up in one of the lounge chairs out on the patio looking up at the stars. "Congratulations." She leaned over and kissed him.

Grinning, he gave her a kiss back. "Thanks. Boy, she sure did throw me for a loop." He couldn't help but think back to the man that he had called daddy, Bill Houston. Although Matt had found out that Bill wasn't his biological dad, it didn't change his feelings for the man at all. "I just wish Daddy had been around for it."

Snuggling her head against his chest, CJ nodded. "I think he knows, baby." The cowboy just nodded.

"I gotta say, it felt pretty good." He grinned again. "Now all we have to do is get her to say Mama." He turned CJ's face up to his as he pulled her closer and kissed her.

Sheila, who had been about to join them on the patio stopped at the kitchen door as she looked out and saw the pair. Matt and CJ reminded her so much of herself and Charles, her late husband. With a tear coming to her eye she turned and headed back into the den, leaving the young couple to the night and the stars overlooking them.

Thursday morning Matt and CJ rode into the office together. "I forgot to tell you: you had a visitor yesterday after you left."

"Oh - who was it?"

"Tamara Placer." CJ looked at the expression on his face and giggled. "I knew you would be upset that you missed her."

"Yeah, about like missing the plague. What in the hell did she want?"

"An interview. About what I have no idea. She was just devastated that you weren't there."

"Yeah, I bet."

They began talking about the case and as he worked his way through the traffic, she told him about her ponderings of the afternoon before. "I was thinking about something yesterday: the bones. It's like somebody is trying to assemble a skeleton – a la Frankenstein."

Matt pulled into the parking garage and put the truck in park. "Let's look at that this morning and see how far they may have gotten on it." Nodding his head he climbed out of the truck and went around to open CJ's door for her. As she started to slide down out of the truck, Matt's hands encircled her waist and he leaned in, kissing her. After a couple of minutes both of them were breathless. It was then that Murray and Chris Chase pulled in to park next to Matt's truck. "Guess it's time to go to work." He looked into her eyes before leaning back in and kissing her lightly.

Heading for the elevator they were joined by the other couple, Chris looking slightly pale and Murray shocked. Matt reached out and clapped Murray on the back. "I hear congratulations are in order."

"Uh yeah, how about that?" Murray blushed and grinned.

"How are you feeling this morning, Chris?" Matt pushed the button for the twentieth floor where Murray's office was located.

"Better, thanks. I'm sorry I bailed on you yesterday."

"Nah, you didn't bail on me – I ended up in Arizona for most of the day." He grinned as he watched the numbers change.

"Matt's got a little bit of news to report." CJ looked at her husband who was wearing a big grin on his face. "Tell them."

"I got called daddy for the first time yesterday."

"Aww, congratulations!" Chris gave him a little hug. "So what about you?"

"I guess she'll say it when she decides it's time." CJ shrugged her shoulders.

As the elevator stopped at Murray's floor, the CEO tapped Matt on the arm. "Do you mind coming into my office for a minute?"

"Sure thing. Can you girls find your way upstairs without me?" Matt gave CJ a peck on the cheek.

"Oh, we'll manage somehow…" She rolled her eyes as the two men stepped off of the elevator.

Murray walked over to the door of his office and punched in the security code. "I see you haven't changed the code." Matt looked at his friend.

"No, I haven't but I need to do that." The pair stepped inside the office, Matt looking at the CEO.

"Bud, are you okay?"

"No. Houston, I …" He stopped. "What if…" He stopped again.

"Easy now, pard. What's the matter?"

"I didn't think it would happen this soon. I…" The flustered CEO waved his hands in the air.

"And I didn't think it would EVER happen for CJ and me." Matt chuckled. "Congrats on getting the job done in good time." He grinned.

"I don't know anything about babies, Houston! What am I going to do?"

"Murray, not to oversimplify things but babies only need a couple of things. Number one, you have to keep one end fed. Number two, you have to keep the other end clean and dry. But the most important thing that they need you won't have any trouble with at all." He put both hands on Murray's shoulders and looked him square in the eye.

"I won't?"

"Nope. Love, Murray. That's the most important thing of all."

"I guess you're right. But what if I drop it or just totally screw up and mess up its entire life?!"

"Murray…" Matt tried to keep a straight face. "That's what Chris is for." He waited as it sunk into the CEO's brain.

"Now wait a minute! You just automatically assume that I will…oh, that's your point." He plopped down in his chair and laughed.

Matt chuckled as he turned and headed for the door. "Congrats again on a speedy job."

"Guess I had a good teacher." Murray laughed as Matt waved his hand and headed out the door.

Upstairs in his own office, Matt grabbed a cup of coffee before stepping over the back of the couch to sit next to his wife, who already had BABY up and running. "Okay this…" She punched a couple of keys, "is a diagram of a skeleton…obviously." She blew up the picture. "And this is a list of the bones missing from the victims and a picture of each one." She sat back as they compared the two.

"Alright so…does this remind you of tenth grade Biology class?" He snickered and CJ gave him the raised eyebrow look. "Sorry. Anyway, let's see we've got… calcaneus times two, talus times two, cuboid bone times two, navicular bone times two, lateral cuneiform bone times two, intermediate cuneiform bone times two, and medial cuneiform bone times two. How many does that make?"

"Fourteen so far."

"Uh huh. Then we've got ten metatarsals…that's twenty four. Next there are ten proximal phalanges, eight intermediate phalanges, and then ten little piggies." He gave CJ a smirk and she popped him on the back of the head.

"We're up to fifty two now." She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes.

"So next up on the skeleton we've got two tibias, two fibulas, and now the second patella that we know about. That makes fifty eight." He blew out a breath. "If somebody is collecting these things they are literally working from the ground up. That's all the bones from the toes to the knees – at least from what we know of so far."

"I take it Bateaux has run this through N-DEx already." CJ finished off her cup of coffee.

"I didn't ask but I'm sure he has…but we can make doubly sure." He pulled out his phone and found the agent's number and dialed. "Hey, it's Houston. CJ just brought up a question: have you run this through N-DEx yet?"

"Sure did. Actually I didn't. Sarah Morrison, one our forensics techs did. She's the one that kind of started to see a connection."

"Okay. Well we were just sitting here going through what we've got so far. As CJ put it, so eloquently I might add - it's like somebody is trying to Frankenstein a skeleton – from the ground up. We've got all the bones for both feet on up to the kneecaps now, counting the one in Parker yesterday."

"From the ground up, huh?"

"Well, we don't know for sure because we don't know yet when all of these folks disappeared…but it would seem that way. I mean there hasn't been a head or arms or anything like that yet that we know of so far."

"In a warped kind of way it makes sense. But then whoever is doing this is probably warped."

"If we could identify some of these bodies we might be able to get a better sense of when they disappeared. I noticed from reading that most of them were like the one yesterday – partially mummified. For a body to reach that condition it takes almost a year." He got quiet for a minute. "Do we know if the other bodies were in as good of shape – you know; no bugs or scavenger damage? I haven't read through every single file yet." He paused. "As a matter of fact some of these folks may be identified and CJ and I just haven't made it that far." Speaking to his wife he added, "Babe, we need to add another category – bodies identified."

"I'll do it right now." She started in on that.

"Okay that will be where we start next – unless you've got a better idea?"

"No, as a matter of fact I've got two other cases that I'm trying to get some work done on right now…so for the moment, you two are it." Bateaux sighed. "You know, we don't get just one case at a time around here. You're kind of lucky – you can pick and choose."

"Yeah, that's what Hoyt tells us. Okay, we'll see what we can come up with on the ones that have been identified. Looks like I may get some traveling in until we figure this stuff out. Talk to you later."

"Alright…and Houston? Sarah Morrison will be sending you some more files by courier. Thanks again to you and CJ."

"Not a problem. 'Bye." Matt hung up. "The forensics tech has some more for us…" He leaned back. "They're supposed to come by courier."

"Oh, goody." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and he turned her face up to his, leaning in to give her a kiss, and at that particular moment Chris made a mad dash for the restroom. Matt snickered and CJ popped him on the back of the head. "It isn't funny." She got up and headed for her office, giving him a serious look back over her shoulder before grinning. "But the timing WAS pretty funny." She giggled as she went on in to work on some of Matt's profit statements from his other ventures, leaving him to sit on the couch and drink his coffee.

Looking at his watch, he polished off the coffee and returned to BABY, looking for some of the victims that had been identified and gathering that information together. Once he had a list, he started studying. CJ came back out and sat down with him. "So who have we got?"

"Marion Reed was 24 and single when she disappeared about three years ago. She was found just outside of Needles about eight months after she went missing." He punched a couple of keys. A photo of the body that was recovered showed on the screen. "She wasn't completely mummified. They had a fairly easy time identifying her and determined the cause of death as poisoning – tetrahydrozoline to be exact."

"The eye drop deal…um."

Matt nodded and zoomed in on the photo. "There isn't any evidence of scavengers or bug activity." He leaned back. "Whoever is doing this, is putting these folks somewhere where they don't come in contact with pretty much anything that could damage the bodies. Her left kneecap was missing."

"Next we've got Shane Bracken, 22, single. He had escaped from a jail work detail in Kingman, Arizona a couple of weeks after Marion Reed disappeared and he was found two months after she was. He had been shot in the head. Just like Reed, he wasn't completely mummified and the body was in nearly identical condition. His right femur was missing." He pulled up an autopsy picture. "And this makes me wonder about where he was killed, too: if he had been killed outside, even if he was moved into whatever this guy is using to protect the bodies, chances are there would have been some kind of insect activity."

"I would think so." She rubbed his shoulders as he leaned forward and brought up the next file that he had found.

"Ramon Sepulveda, age 30, married but separated at the time of his disappearance from Twenty Nine Palms about two years ago. He was identified by his dental work. Evidently he had quite a bit of work done on his mouth about six months beforehand." He leaned back again and pointed at the screen. "This one was hung – his C2 vertebra was broken, also known as "the hangman's fracture". He was found about a year after he went missing. His left tibia was missing."

"So I'm guessing that there's a road trip in your future."

"Yeah…I guess the best bet would be to go to Twenty Nine Palms, Needles, and then Kingman."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I tell you what…" Matt put his left arm around her. "You get in contact with Sarah Morrison and see what else she's got and work on that. I believe I'm going to take the truck this time. Do you want me to get one of the boys to bring your Navigator?"

"I'll take care of it."

"Guess I better go pack a bag – I may be gone a day or two." He pulled her closer and kissed her. "Think my ladies can stay out of trouble while I'm gone?"

"A better question is can YOU stay out of trouble while you're gone." She smiled and kissed him. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Good – maybe when I get back…" He gave her the wiggly eyebrow routine and laughed.

"Pervert – go pack your bag."

"Yes ma'am." He got up and headed for the gym downstairs and packed. Along with clothes he also made sure to pack plenty of ammunition for his pistol which was already in his truck along with his bullet proof vest. Going back upstairs he went into his wife's office to find her on the phone with Sarah Morrison. He sat down on the loveseat as she told the tech that she was going to put the phone on speaker.

"Hi, Mr. Houston."

"Howdy. So you're the one I get to thank for traveling so much this week, huh?"

"Yes sir, that's me. The trouble maker."

"I'm usually the one that gets called the trouble maker."

"Sarah told me that the courier is on the way now, so I should have some more files to go through."

"Eighteen to be exact." The tech turned to look out the window of the lab. "I'm glad Agent Bateaux asked you for help. We're so swamped around here it's ridiculous."

"Right now this is the only thing we've got going…and from the sound of it we may be doing this for a while."

"Guess I better get some work done. It was nice to talk with both of you."

After another minute, CJ hung up and Matt stood up, putting his bag on his shoulder. She moved over and wrapped her arms around his neck as his went around her waist. Rubbing his beard, she kissed him. "You better stay out of trouble."

"Nah, I've got the best lawyer goin'. I'm not worried about it." He kissed her. "You be careful yourself."

"I will. Love you, Cowboy."

"Love you, Babe." He headed out the door and stopped by Chris' desk, setting the bag down. He leaned over and gave her a little hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks. You know Murray and I were talking last night. Want to make a prediction on what it's going to be?" She smiled up at her boss.

"Oh, I don't know…" He grinned as she took his hand and put it on her belly. CJ was grinning as she watched. Matt closed his eyes and the grin disappeared. The two women exchanged a look. "It's a girl." He opened his eyes.

"Okay, now if I go out and get a bunch of pink outfits and I have a boy…" She gave him a look.

"It's a girl." He grinned and gave CJ one last quick peck on the cheek. As he waited for the elevator he looked back over at the two. "Maybe I should add that to my list of services."

"We'll see if you're right this time…before we get your business cards changed." CJ winked at him as he boarded the elevator and disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Matt hit the gas station and filled up his truck and started out on the trip that would take him a little over two hours. Once he got on I-10 headed east, he popped in a CD and started thinking about the stop in Twenty Nine Palms. He had done a little more research on Ramon Sepulveda. That was another case of everyone assuming that he just up and left. Sepulveda had been a civilian employee at the Marine base and got fired right after his wife left him. He had been arrested twice in his life: once for DUI and another for assault. It seemed that no one had missed him except for the landlord who thought he had just skipped out on the rent. Apparently he had moved into the small duplex right after he started having problems at home.

The first thing Matt did when he hit Twenty Nine Palms was to stop at the Burger Nerd and pick up a couple of burgers and a strawberry milkshake. As he sat in the truck eating and watching the kids playing on the playground, he thought about Catey once again and couldn't help but smile. After all his years as a bachelor playboy, he was excited about being called daddy. He was hoping that soon he and CJ would have another kid around.

After wiping out the burgers, Matt pulled out his phone and hit CJ's number. "I wondered if you would be getting lonely by now." She knew him too well.

"Yep, just thought I'd call to check up on you. How's Chris doing?"

"We're sitting here right now talking about baby names…and wiping out a pizza." She giggled.

"Uh huh, well I'm sitting in the Burger Nerd parking lot watching the kids on the playground and missing my ladies…maybe I should have run home and picked up Tilly."

"So you're missing her but not me, is that it?" She had put the phone on speaker and Matt could hear Chris snickering.

"Well at least that way I would have some supervision." He chuckled and then got serious. "I'm about to go see if I can talk to Sepulveda's landlord and then I'm supposed to meet with a deputy out where the body was found."

"Be careful hon…I miss you."

"Miss you, too, Babe. Chris are you still there?"

"Here, boss."

"Keep her outta trouble for me, okay?"

"I'll try, but she's been around you too long." Both women cracked up.

"Talk to y'all later. 'Bye." Matt hung up and pulled out his laptop to look for Sepulveda's address. He had lived in one side of a duplex and the landlord lived in the other. After a couple of minutes he found what he was looking for and headed that way. Matt pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the truck, stretching his back out. It was then that he heard a dog growling behind him. Slowly he turned to see a Rottweiler pup about the same age as Tilly. "Hi there, pup. How ya doin'?" The minute Matt started talking to the dog the growling stopped while the stump of a tail started wagging and he came over and began sniffing at the PI.

"Some guard dog you are, Lucifer." The voice of an older man came from the front door of the duplex. "If you're sellin' somethin' I ain't buyin'."

"No sir, not selling a thing. I was wondering if you might be able to give me some information on a fella that used to live here – Ramon Sepulveda?"

"He's dead – resides across the street now." The old man gave a short chuckle.

Matt looked across the street to the Twenty Nine Palms Public Cemetery. "Yes sir, that's what I've been told." Matt reached down and patted on the dog's head.

"Well you've already ruined my dog you might as well come on in and talk to me."

The private eye headed toward the front steps, Lucifer following in his wake. He pulled out one of his cards when he got to the porch and handed it over to the man. "My name's Matt Houston. I'm a private investigator and I've been asked to look into Mr. Sepulveda's death."

"You have? By who?" He held the door open for Matt. "Drag up a chair there." They sat down in the living room and the man introduced himself. "Charlie Dane." They shook. "So who asked you?"

"The FBI. I was …"

"Since when does the FBI have private eyes working for them?"

"I'm an advisor to the LAPD and the Los Angeles Fire Marshal's Office and I've also worked with the DEA and ATF. Agent Bateaux of the FBI came to see me the day before yesterday with one of the LAPD detectives that I work with – the Chief had sent him to see me."

"Wow, guess you really get around. What do you need to know about Sepulveda? And why is the FBI interested in him?"

Matt stopped. He hadn't really thought about what Bateaux had said about trying to keep things quiet. Obviously he was going to have to tell Dane something...so he settled on telling him what little he had to to get by. "There are some circumstances that I'm not allowed to talk about, but they want to find out more about his murder. To do that, I need to know more about him. Did he have anyone that came to visit? Did he have a girlfriend around or hang out with anybody? Did he ever mention any enemies?"

"Uh huh…he didn't have a girlfriend that I knew of…no visitors that I ever saw…but he did mention being separated from his wife. That's why he moved into this dump. He never mentioned any enemies, but he did gripe about the guy that got him fired from his job at the base. What was his name?" Dane thought for a minute. "Jesperson? I think that was it."

"Did he ever mention why he was fired?"

"Not really. I got the feeling that him and this Jesperson fella had been fighting back and forth for a while. Ramon worked at one of the cafeterias on base and this fella Jesperson was over him in the kitchen. He wasn't in charge of it, but kinda like a team leader or something." Nodding, Matt was taking notes. "Ramon said something about them expecting him to get the work done without all the help that he needed or some such as that."

"Okay. Do you know what the final straw was?"

"Not exactly but I know he hit the guy – decked him he said. Jesperson didn't press charges on him but their boss fired him. Other than that, he never really said much. Probably wouldn't have said that if he wasn't about half lit. I came home from work one evening and he was sitting on the front porch with a cooler of beer and offered me one. Since I was kinda thirsty," the older man grinned, "I didn't turn him down. That was about the only time we really talked." He thought about it. "You know, that was a couple of days before he disappeared."

"Did he tell you he was going somewhere or just ended up not coming home or how did it happen?"

"He just didn't come home. I thought maybe he'd made up with his wife and just hadn't told me yet, but when it came time to pay the rent he still hadn't come back."

Matt nodded. "Is anybody living over there now?"

"Yeah…" Dane shook his head. "Little bit of a woman, barely five feet tall but she's sure got a big mouth on her. All the time yacking on the phone…reminds me of my third wife."

The PI couldn't help but laugh. "What did you do with Sepulveda's stuff?"

"He really didn't have much…the bed was already there and he had a few clothes in a big trash bag. An extra pair of shoes and that was about all that was in there. Not even a TV. I kept it out back in the storage shed until I read in the paper that he was dead. I called the sheriff's department and they came out and looked through it and then left, so I gave it to charity."

"Okay. Well Mr. Dane, I sure do appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. Hope I didn't bother you and Lucifer too much." He reached down and scratched behind the dog's ears causing him to slide down Matt's leg and roll over on his back in the floor.

"Lucifer, you ain't much of a guard dog. Should've named you Pansy." Dane looked up at Matt. "Need a dog?"

"No sir, I've got one – a little girl that's half Blue Heeler and half Husky."

"Sounds like a good one."

Matt stood up and held out his hand. "Thanks again and if you should happen to think of something else just give me a call."

"Sure will." He followed Matt out onto the porch and sat down in the swing, Lucifer right beside him.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

"Deputy Pena? Matt Houston." The PI held out his hand and shook with the young man who was waiting for him at the dead end of Mission Avenue on the south side of town not far from the base of Queen Mountain. "I appreciate you meeting me."

"Not a problem. This is part of my patrol area…I actually spend a good bit of time here." The young man grinned.

"Let me guess: kids parking?" Matt looked around.

"Yeah…" The deputy looked around. "Used to come here myself when I was in high school." He grinned. "It worked, too, I've been married to her for eight years now." Both of the men laughed. "But that's not why you're here. The sheriff told me you wanted information on Ramon Sepulveda. I made a copy of the file for you." He handed over a slim folder. "I'm afraid there's not really too much there."

"Alright. Can you show me where the body was found?"

"Sure, right this way." The pair headed off the end of the paved road and walked across the sand and dirt about one hundred yards. "Right about here. I remember because his head was just this side of that rock there."

Matt scanned through the report. Like the others there hadn't been any scavenger activity on the body. "No sign of any tracks at all – human or four legged?"

"No sir. Not a one. But the wind can get up pretty good out here and tracks can get blown out pretty quick. It didn't look like coyotes or anything even got to the body."

Houston nodded. "Had you ever met Sepulveda?"

"No sir. As a matter of fact I had only been working for the department about a month."

Matt looked at the young man and grinned. "Right after you mustered out of the Corps…am I right?"

"Yes sir, I was in for four years." He looked Matt over. "Were you in?"

"Not the Marines…Army Special Forces. I did time in the sandbox, too." Both men gave a grim smile before Matt looked around again. "Did anyone talk to the guy's wife? I know they were separated."

"Separated is right – when she left him she left him – all the way back to Maine."

"Wow…okay, so y'all know for sure that she was completely out of the picture?"

"Yes sir, we had witnesses from her work place and her neighbors. I actually talked to her and notified her that he was dead. She was upset." They walked back to their vehicles.

"Well Deputy Pena, I appreciate the help – and the file." He tapped the folder. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." He got back into the car and waved as Matt started the truck and headed off toward Highway 62 and then turned north and east towards Needles.

He sighed. Here he was, wandering around in the desert looking for a likely serial killer and away from his family. It would be Catey's first Christmas in a few weeks and he was looking forward to it. They were going to spend the holiday in Hawaii with the Novellis and Matt was as excited about it as the Novelli boys. He couldn't wait to see the look on Vince's face when the truck that he and CJ had gotten for him was delivered. Michael's was going to be delivered a couple of days earlier: Matt didn't want to miss that either.

The PI turned right off of Amboy Road onto National Trails Highway. This stretch of the trip would take about forty five minutes with literally nothing to look at but sand, dirt, scrub, and the surrounding mountains. Matt fought the boredom by thinking about Marion Reed, the eye drop poisoning victim. He had read about cases where people had tried to get revenge on someone by putting eye drops in the drink or food of someone that they were mad at, but evidently those folks didn't know that it wouldn't have the effect of diarrhea that they were hoping for; instead, it could lead to severe vomiting, and suppression of breathing. In stronger doses - as in the death of Marion Reed - it was lethal.

The different ways that the victims had been killed were puzzling to the private investigator. Reed was poisoned while Sepulveda had been hanged. The victim from Kingman had been shot in the head and if indeed the body that had been found at Parker was that of Annabelle Reynolds, she appeared to have been strangled. But he was almost certain that all of the victims had been killed in a sterile environment. Otherwise there would have at least been insect activity on the bodies.

Another thought occurred to him as he drove along: he was pretty sure that the victims had been killed in different areas. Given that, the sterile area where the killer had done the deed had to be mobile. He thought about that. A camper, a semi…what was he using? He needed to run that by Bateaux.

Cracking open a bottle of water from the cooler in the backseat, Matt automatically started chugging it down and then stopped himself. He put the top back on the bottle. Some habits died hard. The first time he had entered the desert area of Iraq (after his initial entry into the region by parachute), he and the rest of the group of soldiers had been instructed to hydrate. It became almost a joke among them and gave rise to contests and of course betting on who could down the required bottle of water first. Smiling, he thought back to the fresh-from-the-academy first lieutenant who had tried to impress a captain by downing the water quicker than any of the men under his command. Lieutenant Craig had gotten the water down first, but it didn't stay down. He had thrown up on the captain's boots and every man in the unit had burst into laughter.

His phone rang. "Hey Babe, you've got great timing."

"Well of course I do. How's it going?"

"I'm in the middle of a forty five minute drive through nothing but desert. Thanks for calling."

"You're welcome. I wanted to let you know about a couple of things that I've found. I started going through the new files from Sarah Morrison and one of them really stuck out."

"Oh, how so?"

"A woman that was found just outside of Santa Clara, Utah by the name of Megan Litsey who worked as a mortuary assistant. She disappeared right at four years ago and was found about three months ago."

"Okay. What about that case stuck out?" He popped the top on the water again and took another long swallow.

"She had only been dead about a year – like the other three that you're working on now."

"So he held onto her for a while. Very interesting. Tell you what, send…"

"I've already sent a copy of the file and the contact information in Santa Clara to your email and Alex Bateaux has already told the sheriff that you'll be there tomorrow." She smiled and waited.

"Uh huh. You're pretty slick, Mrs. Houston. So Alex is trying to keep me out on the road, huh?" He sighed. "That doesn't go with what I had planned."

"You weren't seriously planning on getting home tonight were you?"

"Probably not, but you can't blame a man for trying now can you?" He chuckled. "I miss you."

"You haven't even been gone a day." She leaned back in her desk chair.

"Can't help it. What can I say? I'm in love with my wife."

"And it's a darn good thing you are." They both laughed. "Call me later, okay?"

"You know I will. Be careful on the way home. Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too. 'Bye." She hung up and stared at the phone. After all those years of denying how they really felt about each other, the connection between them was stronger than ever. She sighed. It was going to be a lonely night.

Matt pulled into the parking lot of the California Highway Patrol office in Needles just before 3:30. He got out of the truck and stretched before heading inside. He waited until the officer behind the counter had finished giving directions to a tourist who seemed to be desperately lost. When the man walked out of the front door Matt snickered. "Black socks and sandals just screams tourist."

The sergeant behind the counter grinned. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm supposed to meet with Sgt. Berkshire at 3:45. Looks like I'm a little early."

"Hang on a second." He walked back and looked down the hallway. "Peggy, your 3:45 is here."

"Great! Send him on back." The sergeant opened the counter top and pointed Matt down the hallway where he found Sgt. Peggy Berkshire standing at a counter filling a coffee cup. "Want a cup?"

"Yes ma'am." He took the offered mug and sipped. "Now that's good coffee. Thanks."

"Made it myself. I've got a really bad caffeine habit." She laughed. "My office is right down this way." She led the way down the hall and offered him a chair in front of her desk. "Agent Bateaux says that you're helping him out. I didn't know that they ever asked private investigators for help."

"I didn't either…all of the other FBI agents that I've dealt with would have preferred that I was in Outer Mongolia." Both of them cracked up.

"I've got to confess, Mr. Houston: I did some checking on you."

"Uh oh. You're not going to arrest me for the library book that I didn't turn in in third grade are you?" He cocked his head and grinned.

"Drat! Must have missed that one." Her expression turned serious. "You've been around. Consultant to the LAPD, the Fire Marshal, Special Forces, Army Intelligence…not the average PI. And now here you are talking to me. I'm impressed. Here's the file that we have on Marion Reed, which is not much I'm afraid." She handed it over to him.

Matt read through and it was identical to the information that he already had. He handed it back. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it that isn't in there would you?"

"Not really. I was the one who found her. It was about 5:30 in the morning and I was coming in off of patrol. What really got me is where I found her: just off the interstate up the street here. There's an undeveloped parcel of land on the right hand side, I'm sure you came in that way."

"Yes ma'am."

"That's where she was. It was just starting to get light and I thought maybe it was someone who was drunk. I pulled over and walked over to where she was lying…" Berkshire shook her head. "That was the first time I had ever seen someone mummified. I'll be honest with you – it freaked me out at first." She gave a shudder. "I've been on this job for over ten years and I've seen my share of bodies, but that is one I will never forget."

"Were there any tire tracks around?"

"Not a thing, that's part of what got to me. No tire tracks, no footprints, nothing. It was almost like a big bird had just swooped down and left her there." Matt nodded and wracked his brain for any other questions that he could ask her. He drank down about half of the coffee. "I talked to Agent Bateaux a little bit about what's going on – this is going to be a tough one."

"It is for sure." Matt finished off the coffee. "I sure appreciate you talking to me, Sergeant." He stood up and held out his hand. "Guess I better get back on the road, I'm going to Kingman next."

She stood and handed him one of her cards. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I don't like knowing that there's some nutjob running around in the desert out there."

Matt gave her a card of his own. "I don't either. Thanks again for the coffee." He turned and headed back out of the office and down the hallway and waved to the sergeant behind the counter as he headed back out to the truck. Turning left out of the parking lot, he headed east toward the interstate, pulling over on the shoulder of the road in front of a skate park. Putting the truck in park and looking out across the shimmering pavement to the area where Marion Reed had been found, he thought it was much more public than the other places that the bodies had been dropped. Maybe he wanted her to be found? Was he feeling guilty about killing Marion?

The PI put the truck in gear and eased back out onto J Street headed for the service station next to I-40. He pulled in and filled up the truck, then parked in front of the convenience store. He went in to pay and hit the restroom, then picked up a couple of quarts of oil. Tonight he would give the truck a good going-over after all of the driving in desert conditions. Not to mention it would give him something to take his mind off of missing CJ and Catey so much.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

The private investigator hit I-40 headed east toward Kingman, Arizona. He popped in a CD that he had found on the visor – it wasn't labeled and he couldn't remember what was on it. As the beginning of the song came through the speakers in the cab of the truck he chuckled. "Hotel California" by the Eagles had always been a favorite of his and it definitely fit the area that he was traveling through.

The trip to Kingman took about an hour and Matt pulled into the parking lot of a small motel just off of the interstate and got a room for the night. After putting his bags inside the room, he left on foot and visited a little mom-and-pop diner a couple of blocks away and had supper. He called CJ on his walk back and talked to her for a few minutes and then to Catey. "Daddy!" Matt smiled as he talked to his daughter and then she was gone. CJ said that the baby and Tilly had been playing fetch for most of the afternoon. He made it back to the motel. "Guess I better change and go climb around under the hood."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope, and I want to keep it that way. Just making sure everything is full." He had taken off his shirt and was in the midst of putting on an old t-shirt and jeans. "You girls be good tonight, okay?"

"We will. See if you can stay out of trouble. Love you, Cowboy."

"Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and looked at the wallpaper on his phone: it was a group shot that he had caught a few days before of all of his ladies. CJ and Sheila were in the pool with Catey, and Tilly had jumped in to be with them. All four were peeking over the edge of the pool. He laughed, then went back to changing and as he was about to put the t-shirt on he looked up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror over the dresser. The reflection of the tattoo he now wore on his chest got his attention. He and CJ had gotten matching tattoos while in Florida a few weeks ago. They were of a heart surrounded by three yellow roses with a banner across it. Matt's read "CJ – Babe" and hers read "Matt – Cowboy". He also had one on the top of his left arm. "Catherine Rose" was on there bordered on the top by some filigree decorations and the letter "H". Vince and Michael had teased him – and CJ as well – about the tattoos over their Thanksgiving holiday in Texas.

Grinning, he picked up his keys and headed down to the truck, spending some time tinkering and checking out the engine. Afterwards he headed back up to the room and hit the shower, then stretched out on the bed and opened up the email that CJ had sent him with the new case files. He noticed that there was also another email from her, this one sent after his last phone call. He opened it up to find four pictures. The first showed Catey and Tilly nose to nose with a tennis ball in between them, another of them both on their backs with hands, feet, and paws in the air, another with Catey reclining on the dog drinking a bottle, and the last showed the two of them crashed out in the floor of the den. The two were nearly inseparable. Matt transferred the four pictures to his phone.

"Okay Mattlock: time to get some work done." He pulled up the files that CJ had sent. There were four more bodies, each one found in a different area, but all at about the same time. These were not in as good of shape as the more recent ones and there were signs of both insect and scavenger damage. As near as the medical examiners in each of the four cases could tell, the deaths had happened about three months before the bodies were found, which had been five years ago. He pulled up a map of the Mojave Desert and looked. They were now looking at other locations: Boulder City, Las Vegas, and North Las Vegas in Nevada and Lone Pine in California.

Matt stood up and walked around the room, thinking. The sudden shift from the deteriorated conditions of the bodies to the mummified and almost sterile was puzzling to say the least. Was it a coincidence? Could there be two killers, one messy and one neat? He stepped out onto the walkway outside his room. It was getting dark and he stood watching the headlights appear and disappear on the interstate.

All of his training over the years had taught him that coincidences were pretty rare. Matt pulled out his phone and called Bateaux as he walked back into his room. As soon as the agent picked up the phone, Matt hit him with, "Do you think it could be two killers – one neat and one messy?"

"And good evening to you, too. So you think that's the deal then?"

"I don't know. In the newest files from Sarah Morrison – which actually date back further than anything else we have – the bodies were in bad shape – bugs, scavengers, the whole nine yards. But later on the bodies were in better shape. And another thing: when Marion Reed was disposed of, she was found near the side of the road just up from the CHP station in Needles – somewhere that she would be quickly spotted. I think he felt a little guilty about that one."

"That's what one of our profilers said this afternoon when I spoke with him." Bateaux was impressed. He hadn't said much to Houston after giving him the case files and their trip to Parker. The man had a great reputation but Bateaux wanted to see for himself how the PI operated. He was impressed not only by his deductions but by his drive. "I've been swamped with a bank robbery and hostage situation for most of the day. I'm on my way back to the office now for the obligatory round of paperwork."

"Better you than me." Matt walked back into the room and plopped down on the bed. "I'm in Kingman right now."

"Alright, just keep me up-to-date on what you find. Thanks again for taking the time to look into this."

"Not a problem. But I've got to tell you – I've got a feeling that this is going to take quite a while." He had finally voiced what he had been feeling since the first day that he had looked at the files.

"You and me both."

"Well, I'm going to get off of here. Talk to you later." Matt hung up and looked at the clock. It was almost 7:00. He picked up the TV remote and surfed for about an hour and finally gave in and called CJ again.

"Hi, how's it going?"

"It's going…" He got quiet.

"I miss you, too, hon." She smiled.

"Am I bothering you?"

"Of course not, you know better than that."

"Okay." He sighed and then laughed. "What is it about the two of us that always makes me feel like a kid?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking the same thing." She giggled. "Maybe it's because we've known each other so long." They both got quiet. "Oh, I almost forgot, Vince called here earlier. He wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh? Okay. Thanks for the pictures." He got quiet again. "Guess I better call and see what's going on with him. You girls be good tonight. Love you."

"Love you, too, sweetie. Good night."

"Night. 'Bye." He hung up and immediately punched Vince's cell phone on speed dial. "Hey bud, what's up?"

"Hey, how's it going? CJ told me you were working for the FBI."

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, kind of – it's a real mess. I'm in Arizona right now."

"Frequent driver miles, huh?" Vince laughed. "You don't sound too thrilled. Whatsa matter – are you homesick already?"

"Yeah I am. Go ahead and laugh."

"Nope. Believe me, working on these installation jobs has taught me not to laugh about that anymore. Thanks again for getting everybody together for Thanksgiving."

"No need to thank me – we all had a good time. So what's happening there?"

"Ah, just the usual. It's going really good. We're almost done."

"CJ said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"It's Paul. We had a chat via the computer…him, Isabella, Mama, and me. I don't know - he's got it in his head that he wants to join the Navy."

"And you're upset because he didn't choose the Air Force like his old man?" Matt laughed.

"Nooooo, I'm not. I just…" Vince walked outside his hotel room in Jackson, Mississippi and looked around.

"He's your son and you don't really want him to join up because you know how dangerous it can be."

"Uh huh. I know that's stupid."

"No, it isn't. No matter how old he gets or how tall he gets, he's still going to be your baby boy – or one of 'em anyway. It isn't stupid at all. Hell, Daddy didn't want me to go in the Army and CJ sure didn't. Let me tell you, that was a big fight."

"Really? I'm surprised at that."

"Boy howdy lemme tell you, that girl was some kinda pissed off at me - wouldn't even talk to me for three days. That was during our senior year at Rice."

"Guess it seemed longer than that didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did Vince. It hurt." He leaned back on the bed, thinking back to the fall of 2000. "August of 2000 was something else. I wasn't just under pressure because it was my senior year and I was a fourth year quarterback – with a couple of underclassmen gunning for my job no less. Nope, that was the first time in about twelve years that my best friend in the world wouldn't say hi to me if her life depended on it."

"And now look at the two of you. I bet you're sitting there in that hotel room thinking about packing up and going home."

"The thought had crossed my mind." Matt chuckled. "Look, Paul knows the score. He's not stupid and I can guarantee you he's thought all of this out."

"You can, huh? Let me guess – he already talked to you about it."

"Uh huh, over Thanksgiving. And he knew you were going to feel like you do."

"So what did you tell him?"

"I just told him what Daddy told me: you better be damn sure you want to be there because once you are there isn't a thing in the world I can do to get you out of there." The PI thought back to the conversations about the very same subject that he and Bill Houston had all those years ago.

"That's the truth." He sighed. "Isabella is up in arms about it."

"What about Mama?"

"She's kinda mixed…on the one hand she's proud of him but on the other she's scared."

"Sounds about normal for that kind of situation. He told me he wants to get an avionics degree before he goes in."

"Yeah, that's what he told us. Isabella is hoping that he'll change his mind during that time."

"What about you?"

Vince sighed. "I'm proud of him…just scared."

"You'd be crazy if you weren't…hell, you're crazy anyway." Both men laughed.

"Oh, by the way, he tried your approach when it came time to tell us…" Vince was grinning.

"He did, huh? What was that?"

"The I'm-going-to-jail-for-drugs-Jennifer-is-pregnant approach. The minute he did it I knew he had talked to you." The former cop was laughing.

"How did it go over with the ladies?" Matt was laughing.

"It worked pretty good. He said you told him it would help put things in perspective for us…and it did."

"About as much as it could, I guess. Well, he was pretty worried about it. Is Isabella mad at me?"

"She was kinda steamed at first but then she thought it through and laughed, so I think you're okay to be there for Christmas."

"At least I haven't been disowned. Do the other boys know?"

"Tony already knew. It's kind of surprising really, Paul talks to him more than the other boys…and you'll never guess why."

"Why?"

"He says Tony reminds him of you and that your opinions tend to run the same."

"I'm not sure if that's good or not, but I'll take it." Matt chuckled then got serious. "You know Tony and I had a talk in September when we were out fishing. He wants to join the Army."

"I know. He actually sat in on the meeting. I didn't tell you that to see if you would tell me about the talk. You know, the little snot really has a good head on his shoulders."

"That's my boy, Vince."

"You know, I don't mind you borrowing mine, but I think you need one of your own."

"I've got a feeling it won't be long until we're working on that – but keep it under your hat if you don't mind."

"Oh boy, a little Houston running around – and who knows what Catey will do." They both laughed. "Guess I better get off of here so you can call CJ again."

"How'd you know?"

"Because you two are inseparable, that's how. Talk to you later, Ace."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

The next morning Matt packed his bag and checked out of the motel and headed to the little diner that he had gone to the night before. He sat at the counter, eating a stack of pancakes and sausage. It was good, but not nearly as good as CJ's.

After finishing his second cup of coffee, the private investigator headed for the Mojave County Sheriff's Department located on Beale Street which was a couple of blocks away. Once inside, he spoke to a deputy behind the counter and told him who he was and that he was supposed to meet with Lt. Gary Hahn. "Yes sir – the lieutenant called a few minutes ago. He's running a few minutes late but will see you as soon as he gets here. He also told me that you can use his office to look through the file you requested. Oh, and there's also a package here for you." The young man slid a box across the counter to Matt. It was from Houston Investigations. Pulling out his knife, he cut the tape on the box and opened it to find his fire investigation books for both his current class and the one that he would be taking the next semester. He grinned as he pulled out a note from his wife.

**Matt,**

**Thought you might want these to keep you company.**

**Love you and miss you,**

**CJ**

The deputy looked slightly puzzled as he saw what the books were. Matt put them back in the box, still smiling but catching the look on the man's face. "I'm an advisor to the Fire Marshal's office in LA. Have to take a few classes." The deputy nodded and then led the PI back down a hall and into an office. "There's coffee if you'd like some." He motioned to a pot in the hall.

"Thanks." Matt picked up the folder in the chair in front of the lieutenant's desk with Shane Bracken's name on it. He sat down and read through it, noticing that the information was pretty much the same as he had already seen. When he got done, he stood up and walked over to the window and was looking out.

"Good morning." The booming voice came from behind him and Matt turned to see a man of about his height but much heavier and about ten years older. The salt-and-pepper crew cut looked like it had come straight out of Paris Island.

"Morning." Matt shook hands with him.

"I see you found the file alright. Have a seat, Mr. Houston." He grinned, but Matt had absolutely no idea why.

"Have we met before, Lieutenant?"

"Not exactly." The man lowered his voice. "You've worked with a couple of my nephews – my sister's boys – their last name is Merker."

Matt's face lit up. "Yes sir, both good men." He lowered his voice as well. "It seems there aren't too many secrets these days."

"Well naturally I have no idea what you worked with them on…" Hahn was smiling broadly.

"Uh huh, I can tell." Matt shook his head. "So, getting back to the Bracken file here, it says that Deputy Ortega found him."

The lieutenant's face got serious. "He did as a matter of fact. But you won't be able to talk to him about it. He was killed in a shootout about six months ago. But I responded to the scene so I can show you where he was found if you like. I don't know if it will help or not, but…" He stood up as did Matt. "Sometimes you can just pick up ideas from the atmosphere, know what I mean?"

"Yes sir, I do. Besides, it couldn't hurt." Matt picked up the box containing the books that CJ had sent to him.

"Deputy Scolfield remembered the package I see."

"He did and I really appreciate it. I left a couple of things behind at home. Got some school work to do when I'm not working on this case."

"Never too old to learn. Good deal." They headed out to the parking lot, Matt thanking Deputy Scolfield as he passed him. "Where are you going next?" Lt. Hahn pulled his keys out.

"Santa Clara, Utah."

"Okay, you might want to take your truck – you'll be headed out of town in that direction anyway."

"Yes sir." Matt put the box in his truck and followed the man out of the parking lot and west on Beale Street. They headed on out of town several miles before turning onto a dirt road that cut northeast into the desert. About two miles later the patrol car stopped. Matt parked the truck and got out following Hahn, putting on his white straw cowboy hat as he did so.

"He was spotted by one of the locals out here." Hahn pointed to an outcropping of rock. "Just below the rocks there." They walked over that way.

"And according to the report there were no tire tracks other than those of the guy who found him." Matt knelt down and looked at the spot. A breeze from the southwest started up and he looked at the darkening sky.

"Looks like rain is on the way." Hahn looked up as well.

Matt blew out a breath as he stood up. "This spot isn't too far from the interstate, but not exactly where a lot of folks would be going through either."

"Yep."

"Was the bullet recovered?"

"It was – the FBI has it now."

The PI shook his head. "Lieutenant, I sure do appreciate your help. And tell your nephews I said howdy, would you?" They shook hands again before loading up in their vehicles and turning around, headed back toward 93 North where they parted ways. The skies were darkening quickly and Matt had rolled his window down for some fresh air. When the rain started, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. One second it was dry, the next rain was pouring down. Matt switched on his wipers and lights, slowing slightly as he did so, and then rolled up his window. A tractor trailer came flying by him, throwing up a blinding spray of water from the roadway. Cursing under his breath, Matt slowed a little more until he could see again. The mud flaps on the truck were in bad shape; they were split into three to four pieces and didn't do much to keep the spray from the tires from landing on the vehicles behind it.

Watching as the truck sped on through the desert, Matt was struck by a thought. He had already been wondering if the killer had been using a truck or camper – both of which had mud flaps. Some motor homes had guards that looked like large brushes. If the flaps or guards were lowered temporarily, could they wipe out tracks? Obviously the killer was getting in and out somehow without leaving tire tracks or foot prints either one. The foot prints were fairly easy to eradicate, especially if the ground in the area was hard-packed earth. Even a broom or squeegee could do the job. It was something to give further consideration.

Pulling out his phone, Matt punched CJ on the speed dial. "Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning to you, too. How's it going?"

"Alright. Thanks for the package by the way – I need to be studying for my exam."

"I thought so."

Matt went on to tell her about his mud flap idea. "What do you think?"

"I'd say it makes sense. I'll do some checking around with camper dealers who do repairs and sell accessories, as well as truck stops."

"Thanks, Babe. I'm on the way to Santa Clara right now, then I'm going to head back to Boulder City, and Vegas. Wanna meet me in Vegas since we never got to stay when we were working for Michael?" He was half joking and half serious.

"Hmmm…" CJ thought about it. "I don't know if that's a good idea or not…you might not get any work done." The tone in her voice let Matt know that there was no doubt that he wouldn't be concentrating on the case if she met him there. "Maybe I should just wait here for you. You know what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"I always thought that absence made the…"

"Don't say it. You're terrible." She cracked up as she said it. "I'll wait for you here."

"Oh, alright." Matt really was disappointed. "Guess I better get off of here. You girls stay out of trouble."

"We will – see if you can do the same."

"Love you, Babe…and I really do miss you."

"Miss you more. Love you, Cowboy." She hung up the phone and sighed just as Chris came walking into her office.

"He's homesick, huh?" She smiled.

"Yeah he is…"

"Just think how good it will be when he gets back." Chris gave CJ a knowing smile and both women giggled.

"Truthfully? That's all I can think about right now." The lawyer-turned-PI smiled wistfully.

Back in the desert, Matt was thinking about the same thing. "I gotta catch this guy quick…he's interfering with my love life…and now I'm talking to myself." He cracked up.

The three hour drive gave the PI plenty of time to think. Shane Bracken had been shot in the head, and the FBI now had the bullet. He really hoped that they would get a hit off of it; there were few leads on this case and he didn't want to spend years driving around in the Mojave Desert. Reminding himself that he needed to talk to Bateaux about that, the PI settled in for the drive. He got to Santa Clara, Utah just before noon, turning off of Highway 8 onto West Sunset Drive. After lunch at a small barbecue joint, he headed on up the road to the Police Department. Stepping up to the desk sergeant, Matt explained why he was there.

"Yes sir, Chief Montague is expecting you." He picked up the phone and buzzed the chief. Hanging up he pointed down a hallway. "All the way down the hall, last door on the right hand side. He said just come on in."

"Thanks." Matt headed down the hallway. It occurred to him that he had been treated with nothing but kindness and respect while on this trip. Maybe there were some perks associated with working for the FBI. He tapped on the door before entering and heard a nasally voice on the other side telling him to enter. Stepping inside, the private eye was met with an appraising stare. "Hi, I'm…"

"Houston, PI from LA, here for the FBI." Montague didn't look too happy.

"You know, when you say it like that, it kinda sounds like alphabet soup."

The chief had a surprised look on his face. "Well I can tell you're not regular FBI." He smiled and stood up, extending his hand.

"No sir, as a matter of fact this is the first time I've ever worked with them – instead of against them." They shook hands and he took the chair that Montague motioned to and propped his left boot on his right knee.

"You might just be okay after all. I've never been too fond of the fibbies."

"Me either. Although the one that brought me in on the case seems to be okay." Both men laughed.

"But you didn't come here to listen to me complain about the Feds. Here's the file." The man handed it across the desk.

Matt quickly read through it; just like the others it was almost the same as what he had already read. "Megan Litsey disappeared three years ago but had been dead for about a year when she was found." He was thinking out loud. "Obviously there was some reason why he held onto her. Wait a minute…she was a mortuary assistant. I forgot that my wife told me that." He thoughtfully rubbed the beard on his face. Chief Montague got up and looked out his window. "Maybe he held onto her because she was valuable…maybe her mortuary skills…" He didn't finish. "Son of a gun."

Montague turned to look at him. "What?"

"During the time that he had her, the bodies left were in better shape. He kept her because she was teaching him."

"That makes sense." The cop nodded his head. "I didn't know about the other bodies except for a couple of them…until Bateaux called me again the other day."

"They're trying to keep things quiet."

"Aren't they always?"

"Yes sir." Matt stood up. "Could I see where she was found?"

"Sure thing." The chief picked up his phone. "I need you to come to my office, Rodriquez." He hung up. "Pablo Rodriquez worked the case…it's always kinda stuck in his craw that he didn't figure it out."

There was a knock on the door and then the detective came in. "Sir?"

After introducing Matt and telling the man why he was there, the chief asked him to take the PI to the scene.

"Yes sir, I'd be glad to do it. That one's haunted me."

Matt shook hands with Montague and followed Rodriquez out to the parking lot and into his truck. They headed out east on Sunset then turned north on Bluff Street then east again on East Red Hills Parkway where the detective pulled over on the shoulder of the road. It essentially looked like almost all of the others but was somewhat more similar to the Marion Reed scene in that it was in an area where the body would be easily found in daylight. He had felt guilty about this one as well. Matt shut off the truck and put on his hat once again as he got out. The afternoon sun was out in full force. He looked around as they crossed the road. The area lived up to its name: the red hills reminded him of Mars.

"Right here is where she was." Rodriquez pointed to the area immediately in front of him. "He wasn't trying to hide her. This stretch gets a lot of traffic. There's a golf course over that way…" He pointed to the south. "And a couple of factories towards town." Matt silently looked around the area. "So the FBI brought you in?"

"Yeah, they did."

Rodriquez nodded. "I met Agent Bateaux here a while back – seemed pretty good – for a Fed."

Matt laughed. "Yeah, especially for an FBI agent – I don't usually get along with them. The DEA and ATF – no problem, but the FBI is a whole other story."

"Here's my card. Call if you should need something else." Rodriquez handed one over as Matt searched his pockets.

"I've got some in the truck." They walked back across the road and Matt opened the door and grabbed a small box out of the compartment on the door. "There ya go. Almost time to reload." He gave a grin as he pulled a few more out and put them on the visor and then replaced the box. "I sure appreciate you taking the time to bring me out here."

"Not a problem. Nice to meet you." The two shook hands and Rodriquez left while Matt sat in his truck for a minute looking at the area before retracing part of his route earlier and heading back down to I-15 where he would then be passing through part of Vegas before heading south and then east again to Boulder City. He had a two and a half hour drive ahead of him.

Forty five minutes later, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and answered. "Hey Michael, how's it going?"

"Oh, just peachy; I've dealt with a gang shooting, an idiot protesting global warming by setting fire to telephone poles…you know, all the glorious things that happen around here. How do you like working for the FBI?"

"I prefer to think of it as working with them – for a change." Both men laughed. "So has Anne fixed any of that venison?" Matt had taken the cop on his first-ever hunting trip on the Thanksgiving holiday and he had a blast.

"As a matter of fact she's cooking a roast tonight. Can't wait to dig into that."

"Well good. How's my girl doing?" The private eye was referring to Michael's daughter Kathy.

The cop groaned. "She's got her first date tomorrow night."

"Hah haaaaaa! I knew you'd give in. Don't forget to pay her allowance this week – she owes me ten bucks." Matt burst into laughter.

"You two were betting on it? Why am I surprised? Lord knows I shouldn't be." He couldn't help but smile. "Just wait – one of these days it will happen to you. Catey will bring home some guy and you'll freak out."

"Nah, not me. CJ might, but not me." Both men laughed again.

"So what about your case?" Matt brought him up to date and told him about the mud flap theory. "That makes a lot of sense, Matt."

"I sure hope something does – I don't like spending all my time out here wandering around and being away from home."

"Uh huh – you're homesick already."

"Hell, I was homesick the minute I pulled out of the parking garage." They both got quiet for a minute. "Did CJ tell you what happened Wednesday afternoon?"

"No, good or bad?"

"Good. I got called Daddy for the first time." Matt was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well congratulations!"

"Shocked the hell out of me, that's for sure." Both men laughed again and talked on for a couple more minutes until Hoyt had to leave to deal with a homicide.

"Well don't get lost out there, Houston. Talk to you later."

"Alright, bud. Tell the girls I said howdy." He hung up and spent the rest of his trip thinking about how it would be to have more kids running around the ranch.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

Matt entered the outer limits of Boulder City, Nevada at almost 5:00. He had been forced to sit on the highway for over an hour. When traffic started moving once again, he found out what had caused the problem: a semi had flipped over blocking not only the traffic headed south but also headed north. The rolls of steel that it had been carrying had dislodged during the accident and rolled into the north bound lanes, taking out two cars and causing several fatalities.

Glad to be past the wreck, Matt got off the highway and found a hotel and checked in, hitting the shower before doing anything else. As he put on a pair of trunks, he dialed the house. "Houston residence," Sheila answered.

"Well howdy, Miss Sheila." He hadn't talked to the nurse-turned-nanny in a couple of days.

"Well if it ain't the modern day Moses out wandering the desert." Both laughed. "Are you behaving out there?"

"Yeah, I guess so. There isn't too much trouble to get into…or maybe there is." He laughed. "But yeah, I've been a good boy. How are you girls doing?"

"Just fine. But I think there are a couple of ladies here who miss you." Matt could hear Catey jabbering in the background.

"I miss them, too…hell - I even miss you." He knew that would get her going.

"Uh huh, I just bet you do. Want to talk to CJ?" She was laughing.

"Oh alright, if I have to…" He could hear the phone being handed over.

"Hi, how's life in the desert?"

"Lonely, very lonely. You know you could have done something about that." He tried for a hurt sound.

"That'll make you just that much more eager to get back." She wiped spaghetti sauce off of Catey's chin. "Do you want to talk to Daddy?" CJ put the phone on speaker.

"Hey Lady Bug, how ya doin'?"

"Daddy!" Catey started babbling a blue streak but threw in a few more "daddies" for which Matt was grateful. They chatted for a couple of minutes and then CJ took the phone out by the pool as Sheila took Catey to give her a bath.

"So how is Daddy doing?" She smiled, knowing how much it meant to her husband.

"Like I said before – lonely. And getting fed up with the desert and this case." He sighed. "We sure need a break in it soon."

"So what is the plan as of now?" She sat down on a lounge chair.

"I was late getting to Boulder City so I'll be talking to them tomorrow, then I'll go to Vegas and then to Lone Pine. And if nothing else happens I'll be home tomorrow night."

"Good. 'Cause I've missed you, too. So what are you doing tonight?"

"I'm about to go for a swim. God knows I need some exercise. I've been riding way too much. Then I guess I'll find something to eat."

"And then I'll be getting another phone call."

"Probably." They both laughed. "Love you, Babe. Talk to you later."

"Love you. 'Bye." She hung up and looked down toward the barn where Cricket was fussing. She missed Matt as much as anyone else.

The PI found his way down to the pool and started doing laps, then gave up. There were too many folks lounging around on floats to bump into and after almost knocking off what had to be a three hundred pound cigar-smoking bald-headed guy on a Sponge Bob float, the private eye headed back to his room. He got dried off and put on a pair of jeans then dialed room service and ordered up a chef's salad. Reading through the information he had while eating, he remembered the bullet from the Shane Bracken case and called Bateaux. The agent answered on the first ring. "Hey, gotta question for ya, Fibby." Matt waited to see what the response would be and was glad when he heard laughter on the other end of the line.

"What's that?" Bateaux was still swimming in paperwork.

"The bullet recovered from Shane Bracken…did it get any hits?"

"Uhhhh….hang on." Matt heard him hitting keys. "Let's see…yeah it did. It came back as being connected to a gun that was used in three other murders…" The agent scrolled down. "Oh, holy hell!" He blew out a breath. "All of them were in the Mojave."

"Are any of them related to files we've already got tagged?"

"Hang on – I'm looking." Alex continued to pound the keyboard. "Yes!"

"Don't celebrate too much just yet." Matt snickered. "What was it related to?"

"The one in Lone Pine – the murder of a Jerry Maurice Loggenfelter. What's your email?" Matt told him. "Okay, I'm sending it now."

"Alright. Barring any unforeseen circumstances I should be in Lone Pine sometime tomorrow."

"Okay, just let me know what you get. Thanks again."

"Not a problem. See ya." Matt hung up and took a long swig of the iced tea that he had ordered up and checked his mail, finding the information that the agent had sent. He kicked back on the bed and went through the file.

Jerry Maurice Loggenfelter had been a real piece of work, spending some time behind bars for domestic assault and DUI. He had dropped off of the radar about four years earlier, but everyone who knew him apparently thought he had just left town and were too busy celebrating the fact to file a missing person's report. The body had been found just six months ago by a bunch of teenagers having a party in the desert area just to the east of Lone Pine. The investigation had been handled by the Inyo County Sheriff's Department which had a substation in Lone Pine.

Matt started searching for information on Loggenfelter and it wasn't hard to come by: there were two newspaper articles about the domestic assault. He had used his girlfriend, Sylvia Montrease, for a punching bag. The assault was ended by a man named Hugh Bronton who had knocked Loggenfelter out with a couple of well-placed punches.

The DUI had happened a couple of years later. Loggenfelter had been out of jail for less than twenty four hours when he was arrested with a blood alcohol level of .30. He had borrowed a friend's car and had wrapped it around a telephone pole. Charged while lying in a hospital bed, he remained there for over a month before being transferred to the jail in Independence. The conviction came soon after he refused the lawyer that had been appointed to him. After being released, he had moved in with the same friend from whom he had borrowed the car. "Some friend." Matt realized once again that he was talking to himself. He went back through the story again. The friend's name was Walter Lee King and the car had been a Porsche Cayman. Matt whistled, knowing that those didn't come cheap.

He got up and walked out on the balcony and thought. _What kind of friend doesn't dissolve a friendship when you get drunk and total their Porsche? _If Vince had borrowed a car from him and wrecked it, Matt wouldn't get upset, but if he had been drunk and done it? Matt would be upset for sure, but probably wouldn't have ended the relationship. It would have a big tear in it, but they would still be friends. Since he had more money than most people, Matt had a slightly different attitude from most folks. Going back inside, he picked up the laptop and moved to the table next to the window and began doing a search on Walter King, the car's owner.

Walter Lee King, age 47, lived just outside of Lone Pine. He came from a family with money that was earned by mining and renting property to TV and movie production companies. Many films and TV shows had shot in the area. The King family had large land holdings and had made out quite well over the years, starting with Walter's grandfather.

Matt did a little more digging. King was the only heir to the family fortune that was estimated to be $71.6 million. _That's why the wrecked car didn't bother him._

Wondering how the two had met, the PI did more digging. Both King and Loggenfelter had attended school in Lone Pine and that was apparently how the pair had met. Their families were from totally different backgrounds. King's family had money while the Loggenfelter family was a totally different picture. Jerry's dad had been a used car salesman and had died when his son was fourteen. He had been murdered in the middle of his used car lot by a dissatisfied customer. Jerry's mother had died when he was eighteen from a drug overdose.

The private eye called room service once again, ordering a beer. Propping his feet up on the window sill he stared out at the sunset. What was the big draw? Why were the two men, who came from such different backgrounds, such good friends? Granted, he and CJ had been from different backgrounds in a way. Her dad had been a lawyer, but when both he and her mother had died, she had been forced to go live with her uncle, Errol Parsons – a thoroughly disagreeable and downright mean old bastard. Errol had shifted much of the work on his ranch to CJ, and Matt had spent the better part of eight years of his life helping his future wife with her chores to keep her uncle off of her back. But he and CJ were different than King and Loggenfelter. There was a love connection there, hard as the two denied it for years, but it was there. So what was the story with King and Loggenfelter? There were no indications that there was anything more than friendship between the two and Loggenfelter had lived with Sylvia Montrease for quite a few years.

Matt went to the door when his beer arrived, tipping the room service guy generously and taking the icy cold mug of beer out on the balcony where he propped his bare feet on the railing. He sipped the beer and thought about the reasons why he and CJ had hit it off. Obviously it was love at first sight, but there was more to it than that. They both loved being outside, horses, cattle, and of course fishing. As kids they had spent a lot of hours together on the water. Then coming back to his present problem, Matt needed to find out what Loggenfelter and King had in common. It certainly wasn't money.

After finishing his beer, the private eye decided to put the case on the back burner to simmer and pulled out his school books to study, then turned on the TV and flipped through several channels until he found an old western that was one of his favorites. His phone rang at 7:00AM Saturday morning waking him up. "Hello?"

"You were still asleep weren't you?" CJ was snickering. "You didn't call again last night."

"Uhhhh, yeah." He sat up on the side of the bed. "Guess I fell asleep watching TV." He grabbed the remote and turned it off, then stood up and stretched. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep…I just wanted to check on you."

"Well I'm glad you did or I might have slept the day away." He went into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

"Call me later. Love you, Cowboy."

"Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and yawned, then stripped out of the jeans and climbed into the shower to wake up. "God I need coffee." Chuckling as he realized that once again he was talking to himself, he thought about the day ahead.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

"The Chief will see you now, Mr. Houston." Matt was ushered back down a hallway at the Boulder City Police Department and shown into the office of Chief Ray Orbach who stood and shook hands with the private investigator.

"Nice to meet you. Have a seat, Mr. Houston." The chief sat down and steepled his fingers. "Agent Bateaux told me that you would be paying us a visit."

"Yes sir, I had intended to be here yesterday but I got caught up behind an accident."

Nodding, the chief shook his head. "Yesterday was tough. Five people were killed in that mess."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"But that isn't why you're here, is it?" Orbach handed over a folder to Matt.

"Thanks." He took it and read through, thinking to himself once again that it was a carbon copy of what he had already seen. After quickly going through it he looked up at the chief. "Did Dennis Oglesby have a record?"

"No, he didn't. As a matter of fact he had moved here about two weeks before he went missing. His wife filed the missing person's report after the twenty four hour waiting period. She stayed here for a couple of years and then moved back to Georgia."

"And I see here that she was ruled out as a suspect." The report had stated that Marissa Oglesby had witnesses as to her whereabouts for the time in question.

"She was." Matt sighed and nodded. "It looks like you've been dealt a bad hand, Mr. Houston. We ran down every lead we had on this case and they were scarce as hen's teeth. There just wasn't anywhere to go on it. It's a wonder the body was found at all. He was out at the end of Utah Street." He got up and moved over to the map behind his desk and Matt joined him and looked at the area. Once again, as they had found in most of the cases, it was an area that didn't receive much traffic at all. A dead end in the desert, there wouldn't be much reason for anyone to go there.

Matt handed the folder back. "Chief, I sure appreciate your time." They shook hands again and Matt left, headed towards Vegas. Something kept nagging at him as he drove along Highway 93, and then it hit him: Oglesby's body had been in bad shape. Like the others that he had been investigating, the body was missing one bone, but he had been found more recently than some of the bodies that were in good shape and hadn't been dead as long as they had – plus there had been obvious scavenger damage. Matt was convinced that Oglesby's death was not tied into the others that he was investigating.

The trip was over in half an hour and Matt headed to the headquarters of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. After a short wait, he was met by Det. Marsha Hites. "Mr. Houston?" She smiled and held out her hand. "Marsha Hites. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thanks. This is quite a place y'all have here." He followed her to the elevator and they rode up to the offices of the Homicide Section.

"The Lieutenant is waiting for us." She led him back to an office at the back of the squad room and knocked on the door.

"Yeah, come in."

She and Matt stepped inside the office of Lt. Mario Patrillo. Matt did a double take when the man turned around. He was the spitting image of Vince Novelli with the addition of a moustache. The man noticed his shocked expression. "Is something wrong?"

Matt stuttered for a minute and then chuckled and pulled out his phone. "Sorry, I'm not really crazy…" He held out the phone with a picture of Vince on it. "You look like my best friend…who used to be a lieutenant with the LAPD."

"Wow!" Patrillo laughed. "He's a pretty good looking guy." He chuckled again as Matt showed the picture to Det. Hites.

"You aren't related to any Novellis by any chance are you?" Matt couldn't get over the resemblance.

"Not that I know of but I'll be sure to ask my mother."

"Please tell me her name isn't Rosa…" Matt looked at the cop.

"How did you know?" The PI started laughing again. "Don't tell me his mom is a Rosa, too?"

Matt tried to recover. "Uh huh…" He pulled up a picture of Mama Novelli and handed over the phone.

"Holy cow…they kinda look alike. Okay, that's just weird." He chuckled. "Please have a seat."

Sitting in the offered chair, Matt took the folder that Patrillo handed him and read through it. Monica Sturgess had been picked up numerous times for soliciting and had been living with a boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. She had been reported as missing and DNA had been the only way to identify her. From the best estimations of the ME, she had been dead about three years. The only bone that was missing from her body was the L-5 – the fifth lumbar vertebra. Matt closed the folder and thought for a minute. "Where was she found exactly?"

Patrillo waved him over to a map on the wall. "Right here – by a group of hikers." He tapped on the map. The area was to the east of the city, just off of East Lake Mead Boulevard. Matt looked. That was the only road through the area. "Now here's a little something that you might find interesting." The lieutenant picked up another folder and handed it to the private eye.

Matt opened it up and starting reading about the homicide of Logan Branchfield, age 39, a tow truck driver who had been found shot to death two years earlier along that same stretch of roadway. "Uh huh…" He continued reading. Branchfield's wife said that he had received a call at 2:30 in the morning on June fifteenth of that year and that was the last time she saw him alive. The call had been made from a disposable cell phone and couldn't be traced. "That sounds like more than a coincidence." He walked back over to the map. "I bet he got stuck." Tapping on the map he explained. "See, I think this guy is driving something big – a semi, a camper – something along that line. But nobody has been finding tracks near the bodies. I think he's been lowering the mud flaps somehow and erasing his tracks."

The lieutenant nodded. "That could be done I guess. Do you want to go out there?"

"Yes sir, I do." The three went down to the parking garage and got into the lieutenant's SUV and headed that way. "I'm also supposed to be meeting with a Det. Parker in North Las Vegas."

Det. Hites spoke up. "Rick Parker?"

"Yes ma'am."

She smiled. "We went to the academy together. He's a good guy."

They chatted and arrived at the scene a short time later. Climbing out of the truck, Matt adjusted the LAPD ball cap on his head and followed Patrillo out to the spot. "This is it right here." The PI looked back toward the area where they had parked. Between the road and the spot where they now stood there was a bit of a wash. If someone was unfamiliar with the area and was there for the very first time under nighttime conditions they could easily become stuck – no matter what they were driving. He looked at the area where they stood: nothing there indicated any reason why the spot would have been visited by anyone other than a hiker – unless someone was up to no good and needed to stash a body. Turning back toward the road, the PI headed toward the wash. Hites and Patrillo followed suit. Once there, Matt started travelling down the wash and then suddenly stopped when he was about twenty yards from where he had first entered it.

"Bingo." He knelt down as the other two detectives joined him. He indicated what looked like a series of marks on the stone at the northern edge of the wash – toward the road. "It looks like somebody scraped metal across here." Pulling out his phone, he took pictures from every angle and then pulled a small tape measure out of his pocket. "Hold that right there on that mark." He handed the end to Patrillo and moved down to where the next mark was. "Right at 72 inches…" Patrillo turned loose of the tape and Matt wound it up and put it back in his pocket. "I think he's got an RV."


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

"An RV...that makes sense." Bateaux was on the way back to his office from grabbing a burger up the street.

"I checked out the case in North Las Vegas, too. It looks like the same guy. Right now I'm on 95 heading to Lone Pine." He filled the agent in on what he had found out about Loggenfelter and King. "I'm going to meet with Det. Simmons from the Inyo County Sheriff's Department and go to the Loggenfelter scene."

"Okay, sounds like you're moving right along on this deal. Just let me know if you need anything."

"I'll do it. Talk to you later." He hung up and then hit CJ's number on speed dial. "Hi there."

"How's it going?" CJ had been expecting a call and listened as Matt filled her in on what he had run across that morning and what he was wondering about Loggenfelter and King. "That sounds promising, hon. What time will you be in Lone Pine?"

"About 3:00. I'm about to stop for some lunch." He got quiet for a minute. "I don't know if I'll be home tonight or not, Babe."

"You do what you need to, sweetie. I understand...and you know I'll be here when you get here."

"I know - I just really miss my girls."

"We miss you, too. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will. Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too. 'Bye."

He stopped at a little diner in Beatty, Nevada for a quick lunch and then hit the road once again, taking Route 374 and crossing over the Grapevine Mountains at the California state line. After crossing the Cottonwood Mountains, Death Valley and the Angus Range, Matt finally arrived in Lone Pine. He met Det. Wallace Simmons in the parking lot of the Burger Nerd at the corner of Locust and Maine. "Mr. Houston?" The cop held out his hand and they shook.

"Nice to meet you." Matt took the folder that Simmons handed him and read through. Nodding as he closed it up. "What do you know about Loggenfelter and King?"

Simmons adjusted the ball cap on his head. "I went through school with both of them – that's why the sheriff put me on the case." He spit tobacco juice. "They were both odd ducks. King comes from money. His Grandpa was a nice enough fella who started out mining with a pick and shovel – old-school. Worked his butt off and hit it big. He started the King Mining Company and brought in plenty of machinery and people. Helped the economy here. But he was smart with his money – didn't poop it away on fancy cars and such. Lived in a normal house and drove the same pickup he started out with. His son Morton – Walter's dad – was the complete opposite. He flaunted the old man's money every chance he got. I guess the old man was blind as far as his boy was concerned. Morton could do no wrong in his eyes. He went off to school down at Berkley and came back after he graduated and went to work in the family business, got married to Margerie Rohaus and Walter was born a couple of years later. Not long after that, Old Man King passed away and that left Morton in charge. He treated Walter just like his dad had treated him and Walter was even worse than his dad had been." Simmons spit again.

"Well sir, about the time we hit high school the mine quit producing. A lot of folks were out of work and left town. Morton knew two years before it happened that it was headed that way but he kept those folks working on until he had every last thing out of those mines that he could get – and then fired every single one of 'em without so much as a day's notice."

"That's a real good way to become unpopular overnight." Matt had known folks like that in the oil business in Texas. He, as his dad before him, had always worked to find other employment for the folks that they had to let go in that type of situation.

"You ain't kiddin'. Anyway, Morton and his family still had more money than God as far as the folks that were left around here were concerned and they used it to buy up land from folks that were leaving and desperate to sell."

"That's how they got so much land." Matt nodded.

"That and the old man had bought up a bunch for the mining operations. Anyway, folks from Hollywood came up scouting for places to shoot movies and TV shows. And of course the King family made more money off of that. These days that's how most of the money comes in, which is just fine with Walter – he don't like work of any kind."

"Alright. So basically spoiled rich kid syndrome."

Simmons cocked his head and grinned at Matt. "I did some checking on you...kinda come from the same background doncha?"

"Kind of...but Daddy busted my ass when I needed it. Plus we took care of our people when something went belly up."

"I know you did. Checked on that part, too." He grinned. "I expected you to pull up here in some fancy car. Not that truck of yours. Although it is a sharp one, I gotta say."

"Thanks. I went through that phase. Glad to say I outgrew it. Anyway, back to Walter and Jerry. I take it they met in school?"

"They did. See Walter wasn't real popular. He was a bully and nobody would hang out with him but Jerry who loved nothing better."

"That's about what I had figured."

"Jerry was pretty much bought and paid for. Walter couldn't get anybody else to hang out with him and Jerry was money hungry. He latched onto Walter for a share in the gravy train." Simmons got rid of the tobacco in his mouth. "When we were in our junior year in high school, there was a girl who claimed that the two of them raped her. We had a different sheriff back then."

"And he was on the King payroll?"

Nodding, Simmons leaned against the truck. "My dad was a tow truck driver. He saw more money go into Sheriff Cosgrove's pocket than into the county tax office. Now Daddy was present at a wreck that involved Walter, Jerry, and the young lady who had accused them. The two boys walked out of it without a scratch, but the girl was dead. Daddy pulled the car out of the canyon that it had gone in, about fifty feet deep, and he got a look at her while he was hooking that car up. She had been shot. They staged the wreck to cover it up. When he got back up to his truck and started to pull the car out Morton King was there and a huge roll of bills went into the sheriff's pocket. Daddy figured that he better act like he hadn't seen a thing before he was the next one to have an accident."

"Sweet family. Umph." Matt adjusted the cowboy hat on his head. He had changed from the LAPD cap into it before he hit town in order to draw as little attention as possible.

"Well it gets even better. Sheriff Cosgrove evidently was getting a little too greedy. His patrol car was pulled out of a canyon six years later – completely burnt up." Wallace Simmons looked around. "The next time there was an election Sheriff Montgomery was elected. He doesn't play favorites and has been keeping an eye on King the whole time he's been in office. When he found out you were coming here he got a mighty big smile on his face."

"Glad I could brighten up his day." Houston chuckled. "So what tack do you suggest we take on this deal?"

"I thought you might want to get the lay of the land. I'll take you for a ride out to where we found Loggenfelter and then by the King place – they aren't very far from each other."

"Alright." The two detectives loaded up in Simmons' SUV and headed north on 395 and then turned east onto Lone Pine Narrow Gauge Road. There was nothing on either side of the road but desert, but up ahead Matt could see a line of what looked like trees and grass. "Is that Owens River?"

"Yep. Those are the only trees you'll see outside of town – for the most part." They went on, slowing down just the other side of the river before turning off onto a dirt trail. "He was spotted out here by teenagers having a kegger." Simmons stopped and put the SUV into park. "Right over there." The two got out and walked over to the spot.

Matt looked around. "Not much to work with, huh?"

"Nope. But you might find this next part of the trip interesting." They loaded back up and headed back the way they had come, stopping on the western side of the river. Simmons handed the PI a pair of binoculars. "Look about one o'clock."

Houston adjusted the lenses and could make out more trees that appeared to surround a large house and an unnaturally green lawn. "So I guess that's Walter's place?"

"Yup. Not very far away from where we found Jerry." Simmons pulled back out onto the road and headed west and then turned north onto 395. They slowed slightly as they passed by the estate. "He's got security cameras all over the place: up in the trees, on top of that iron fence, all over the house."

They turned and headed back toward town. "Has there been any other reason for the Sheriff's Department to look at him?"

"Not officially. A couple of folks have turned up missing over the years – not counting Jerry. Couple of women – and both of them had been seen around town with Walter. One of them was a local girl that had been picked up a few times for prostitution. The other one was from somewhere else and it was said that she was shacking up with him."

Matt thought as they drove back to the Burger Nerd. "With a place that big – and you said he doesn't like to work – I'm sure he has a maid or housekeeper and probably somebody to tend to the yard."

"He does – none of 'em speak a word of English. And they never stay longer than a few months. He's constantly getting new help."

"And I'm gonna guess he doesn't make too many public appearances either." The PI looked over at the detective.

"You guessed right."

Matt blew out a breath and thought a little more. "What all has he got on his property? I saw the house and what looked like a barn and some other building. What do you know about it?"

"Not much. He doesn't let anybody on the property. He's even got it where the utility meters are out front so that he doesn't have to deal with that."

"So much for that idea." Houston thought about it. "Okay, he doesn't have Loggenfelter to hang out with anymore...has he replaced him?"

"Kind of. He's got a foreman that runs the place for him. Hires and fires all the staff, deals with whatever needs doing outside of the place. The only time we see King is when he's traveling through town on his way to who knows where. I did hear he likes to go to Vegas quite often – of course it's just a rumor. Who knows where he goes?"

"What does he drive?"

"Several things. He has a Hummer, a Jaguar, a Jeep, a Tahoe..."

"Does he have an RV?"

"Yeah he does...a big ole sucker. Guess he had it specially made. I've never seen another one like it."

"Bingo." Matt grinned.

"What?"

"I think he's been using that for his dirty work."

"He leaves in it quite a bit..." Simmons thought for a minute. "Actually, the last few times I've seen him he's been in it."

Matt looked at his watch. "Okay, I'm going to find me a hotel room and do some more research on this clown." They pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Matt handed one of his cards to Simmons, then another. "I'd appreciate it if you would give one of those to the sheriff. He can call that cell number if he needs me."

"Here's one of mine." Simmons handed over the card and put Matt's in his shirt pocket. "Let me know if you come up with anything, Mr. Houston."

"Call me Houston – everybody else does." He stuck out his hand.

"Wally." They shook. "See you later."

Matt tucked the card in his shirt pocket and headed into the Burger Nerd for supper before finding a hotel room. Once inside, he pulled out his laptop and pulled up the program for the satellite that he had bought over a year ago from the Russians. It had helped him out on several occasions and Matt felt that it was going to be a good tool to use against King. After programming in the coordinates, the private eye toed off his boots and kicked back on the bed, reaching for his phone. He hit the speed dial for the ranch. "Hey hon, how's it going?" CJ answered on the first ring.

"This guy is looking more likely, Babe. I've just got a gut feeling." He filled her in on what he had seen that afternoon and what Wally Simmons had told him.

"It's a big plus that Simmons knows him. So now what - the satellite?" She grinned as she sat down in the lounge chair by the pool with Catey on her lap.

"Yep. If you got it ...well, guess I better not flaunt it, but you know what I mean." He smiled.

"Uh huh. If you need me to keep an eye on it for you let me know."

"Okay. I think I'm just going to try to scope it out tonight and see what I can see." Neither one spoke for a minute. "Miss you, Babe."

"We miss you, too. There's a beautiful little girl here who would probably like to talk to you."

Matt's face lit up. "Okay." He heard CJ after she pushed the speaker button and spoke to Catey.

"Do you want to talk to Daddy?"

"Daddy?" Catey sounded surprised.

"Hey, Miss Whistle Britches!"

"Daddy!" The baby started jabbering a mile a minute causing both of her parents to crack up.

When she settled down for a minute, Matt spoke again. "So when are you going to say Mama?"

"Mama!"

Matt burst into laughter and CJ was smiling. "WOW!" She hugged the little girl tight. "She pointed at me when she said it."

"So I guess either Uncle Roy or Sheila will be next, huh?"

"TILLY!" The baby pointed at the dog who was sitting next to the lounge chair.

"Way to go, Catey!" Matt was laughing. "You were just waiting for the right time, weren't you kiddo?"

"Daddy!" The baby started laughing.

"Hey Catey, can you say your name?" Matt was still laughing.

"Who are you?" CJ pointed at her daughter.

"Lady Bug!" Both CJ and Matt cracked up.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

After finishing the call with CJ and Catey, Matt checked on the satellite and found it was right on target. He watched for a while, not seeing much movement, so he set the program to record and rummaged through his bag to find his trunks and went down to the pool for a swim. Unlike Boulder City, the pool was completely empty and he started doing laps. Over the years he had discovered that some of his best thinking was done while swimming.

The feeling in his gut told him that King was their man. It was probably going to be hard to prove though. King was careful: he rarely left the estate, had someone else taking care of the day-to-day business, and even the utility meters were outside the gate. Stopping at the edge, a thought occurred to him – the meters being outside the grounds could be a plus if he needed to make entry. Making a mental note of it, he went back to his workout.

Wally Simmons had said none of the help spoke English and Matt was figuring they spoke Spanish, which wouldn't slow him down a bit if he managed to talk to one of them. That was a plus.

Switching to a backstroke, he pushed off from the wall of the pool. Lone Pine wasn't a big place – the population was about 2,000 people. Rumors travelled fast in a small town and Matt was a stranger. The less time he stayed there, the better: King might get wind of him being there. He made his mind up to try to find out when the estate's employees came to town and then try to arrange meeting some of them and see if he could get any information from them. Otherwise, he was planning to head back to LA and keep the satellite surveillance going until King made his next trip. Then he could track him down. If he could manage to get one of his critters on the man's vehicles it would be a big plus. The fact that the electric meter was out front would help Matt make entry onto the estate to place the tracking devices if he really needed to do it. It wasn't his first choice, but definitely was an option.

After finishing his swim, Matt headed back to his room, hit the shower, and put on a pair of shorts before pulling out his phone to check on CJ and Catey. After another chatty conversation with his daughter, Matt went for some coffee and then came back to hit his fire investigation books before going to bed.

The alarm on the phone by his head went off at 5:30AM. Matt sat up and began thinking through what he had planned for the day as he headed to the shower. After dressing and packing his bag, the PI checked out of the hotel, stopped by the Burger Nerd for a sausage biscuit and coffee, and then headed for the Inyo County Sheriff's Department Sub-Station, a small square building on the north side of town. A handful of cars were in the parking lot. Matt sat and ate his breakfast and by the time he had finished his biscuit and was drinking the coffee, Wally Simmons pulled into the lot. Matt got out carrying his laptop case and met the detective in the parking lot.

"You're up bright and early." Simmons seemed somewhat surprised.

"Got work to do. How are ya?" Matt followed him inside the building and into a tiny office, the eyes of the two deputies at the front counter following him.

"Pretty good. Have a seat." Wally turned and hit the button for the coffee maker sitting on the window sill behind his desk. "Gotta make my own coffee. Those boys out there wouldn't know good coffee if it bit 'em in the butt." Both men chuckled. "So what can I do for you this morning?"

"I've got a couple of questions for you. First off, when do the workers at King's place come into town?"

"They usually come in on Saturday to shop and I've seen a couple of them head to church." He looked at his watch. "Mass isn't until 10:00."

"Okay." He thought for a minute. "I'm guessing they don't drive their own vehicles."

"Nope. Far as I can tell the only vehicles on the place belong to King and the foreman. But the employees use the Tahoe when they come to town."

"So King keeps a tight rein on everybody there it sounds like." Matt sipped coffee. "I'd like to put a tracking device on the Tahoe and I'd like to try to talk to the employees."

"I don't see a problem with the tracker but…" Simmons stopped. _"__Tú eres__de Texas__- apuesto a__que usted habla__español,__¿verdad__?"_

"_Sí__, desde la edad __de cinco años."_ Matt laughed.

"Since you were five, huh? Let me guess: housekeeper?"

"Yep. She's still there and still makes the best fajitas going." He sat back and drank down the last of his coffee. "What do we know about the foreman? Is he a local?"

Wally nodded, leaning forward and hitting a few buttons on the keyboard. "Ramon Arino." He turned the monitor so that Matt could read for himself.

"Age 46, divorced…hmm, spent four years behind bars for assault and burglary…a real fine, upstanding citizen. So how did he and King get so friendly?"

"Ramon started hanging out with Loggenfelter while King was away at Berkley. They were big drinking buddies and used to go whoring up around Vegas. Then when King got back into town the three joined up and had a good time until Loggenfelter ended up doing his time. That's when King and Ramon got so chummy. They've been thick ever since." He turned to the pot of coffee that had just finished brewing. "Need a refill?"

"Sure." Matt popped the top off of the drive-thru cup and handed it to Wally. "Thanks." He took the cup back and popped the top back on as the detective filled his own mug. "Now that's some good coffee. You've sure got the Burger Nerd beat." Both men laughed.

Matt got quiet as he began thinking. "We need some way to get in there. Legally…" He leaned back in the chair and propped his ankle on his knee, thoughtfully drinking the warm brew. Suddenly the private eye snapped his fingers. "Does Arino have any kids?"

"Yeah."

"Does he pay child support?"

"We can find out." Simmons began working the keyboard. "He's supposed to, but guess who's about $8,000 in arrears?"

"There's our ticket into the estate." He grinned.

"Son of a gun." Simmons nodded his head. "So what's your plan?"

"Well, I reckon you'll need to get a warrant for him and that probably won't happen until tomorrow. When you have it, we can go in and while you're dealing with him and King, I'll try to slip around and plant some critters." Matt's statement was met with a questioning look.

"Critters?"

"Bugs. Tracking devices."

"That's just great, but that isn't in the county's budget."

"Maybe not, but we're going to plant some anyway." He reached into the laptop bag, removing a small box and took a tiny bit of electronic wizardry out of it, handing it over to Simmons.

"How in the world…this thing is…"

"Turn it over. See that little switch? Push it." Matt had a big smile on his face.

"Okay. Now what?"

Matt pulled out the laptop and hit a few keys. "Say cheese." He turned the computer so that Simmons could see.

"My God what an ugly mug." The cop cracked up. "If I wasn't so damn ugly I'd say that's a good picture. Wow." He nodded and handed it back to Matt who turned it off and closed the laptop. "So where did you get that thing?"

"I designed it – well, partially. I worked with Derwin Dunlap on a whole line of surveillance equipment. Those are our pride and joy."

"Derwin Dunlap…Holy crap." Wally sat back and took a sip of coffee, sizing up Matt. "You're a pretty sharp customer, Houston. That's some kind of impressive."

"Glad you think so." He put the critter back up. "So we put a critter on each vehicle and try to get one or two in the house." Matt drank more coffee. "But I'm worried. I'm a stranger in a small town and I'm hanging out with a cop. Word is likely to get around the longer I stay here."

"It is...but if you were to be staying somewhere outside of town, say in a private home, there wouldn't be too much talk, would there? I've got a spare room."

"I wouldn't want to put you out."

"Are you kidding? Tammy would kill for some company. She's been about to drive me crazy since our daughter left for school in San Francisco. Whadaya say?"

"You better ask first…I know my wife would like a little bit of a warning." Matt grinned.

"Alright…" Simmons dialed the phone and informed his wife of what he wanted. He gave Matt a thumbs up. "But you can't tell anybody, okay? We're trying to keep folks from finding out that he's here." Rolling his eyes, the detective laughed. "Yes, sweetie I promise. Okay, love you, too. 'Bye." He hung up. "It's a done deal and she is one happy lady."

"Okay. That's one less problem." Matt thoughtfully sipped coffee. "Do you know anything about the employees he has out there now?"

"Not much. But he must really like the housekeeper because she's been there longer than any of the others – about a year now. I've met her a couple of times here in town. Seems like a nice enough lady – about fifty or so, little bitty thing – not even five feet tall. She's at church every Sunday. I think we need to talk to her for sure."

"Does Arino keep an eye on her when she's in town?"

"Not anymore. He used to, but all she ever does is come into town to grocery shop for the estate on Saturdays and comes to church on Sundays."

"I wonder if we would be able to contact her before she went into the church?"

Wally considered the question. "Father Albertini is there now…we could go talk to him about it." He saw the questioning look on Matt's face. "He's okay – can't stand King so he would probably be willing to help us. Let's go pay him a visit."

They loaded up in Wally's SUV and drove about four blocks to the small church. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot and Wally parked toward the back. They entered through a small door located on the eastern side, both men removing their hats as they entered. Father Albertini saw the pair and greeted them. "Good morning!"

"Mornin', Padre. Could we have a word – privately?"

"Sure thing." He led them down the hall and opened the door to his office. "What can I do for you?"

"Father, this is Matt Houston – he's an advisor to the FBI." The two men shook hands. "We need your help." As Wally explained a little about what was going on, the priest's eyes got big.

"You've gotta be kidding me…I always knew he was evil, but…" He shook his head. "What can I do to help?"

"We need to talk to King's housekeeper."

"And she's here every Sunday." Albertini thought for a minute. "I'm sure you want to keep this quiet, right?"

"We do."

"Alright, I'll pass the message on to her and tell her to meet you in here, is that okay?"

"That would be great, Padre, thanks."

Matt and Wally had a seat and waited. Houston pulled out the laptop that he had brought in with him and began studying back over some of the files. King looked like the one and the PI just felt it in his gut. Glancing up to see that Wally was looking out of the window, Matt switched to the satellite program. He saw the Tahoe rolling down the driveway. Closing up the computer, he packed it into the case and stood up to stretch, catching Wally's attention. "She should be here in a few minutes." Matt walked around the office some trying to stretch his legs. He had been cooped up too much all week long.

"So how did you end up working for the FBI?"

The PI chuckled. "Not for them – with them for a change. This is the first time. I've been an advisor to the LAPD several years now, then worked with the ATF a while back, and the DEA, and the Coast Guard." He conveniently left out the Navy SEALs.

"Uh huh." Wally shook his head. "So when do you find time to work with Dunlap on that gear?" He pointed to the case.

Shrugging, Matt grinned. "It just all kinda falls into place – along with the video games and two ranches."

"You don't look like the gamer type."

"Not exactly – I work with Derwin on them. You know the _Alien Armory_ series?"

"Yeah…you didn't?"

"Uh huh. It all started with a really weird dream I had one night." They both laughed.

"And two ranches…wow."

"Well, I can't take much credit for them anymore – I've got five cowboys working for me full time. Two here in California – it isn't a big place, and three more down in Texas. Now that one's getting pretty big. I've got 200 head right now with more due to be hitting the ground in about three months."

"Holy cow…"

"Wrong denomination, Wally." Both men cracked up as there was a knock on the door and Father Albertini came in with a tiny wisp of a woman who appeared to be in her fifties.

"_Señores, esto es Mirta Zúñiga."_

_"Es un placer conocerte." _Matt extended his hand and the petite housekeeper shook it gingerly.

_"Yo también." _The detective noticed that she was trembling as they shook hands and she saw the badge hanging on his belt. _"No t__ienes nada que temer - sólo tenemos que hacerle unas cuantas preguntas, ¿de acuerdo?"_

Mirta nodded shyly. Matt offered her a chair and leaned against Father Albertini's desk as he spoke to her in her native tongue. "First off, you aren't in any trouble, okay?" He gave her a reassuring smile.

"S_í_." She looked nervously between the two men and then at the priest.

"We need some information about your employer. Do you think you can help us?"

"No!" She jumped up out of the chair.

Wally took her by the arm. "Just hear us out, okay? And if you don't want to help all you have to do is say so – but at least hear what we want. Is that fair?" She didn't answer but sat back down.

Without revealing too much, Matt asked her about the other buildings on the property and if she had seen anything odd or suspicious. A look of fear crept into her eyes.

"There is a barn, but no animals. And there is a large garage, but it isn't used for the vehicles."

"Do you know what it's used for?" Matt spoke quietly.

"No, we aren't allowed anywhere near it. The gardener has a small shed where the tools are kept and I never leave the house except to sit on the patio in the back sometimes in the evenings…or when I come to town to shop or come here." She paused, seemingly unsure if she should volunteer anything else. "I have heard from others who have worked there in the past that there is some kind of machinery in the garage. Like a pump or something. Sometimes when Sr. King returns from a trip he stays there until late at night and you can hear the machinery running." Shivering, she looked at Father Albertini. "I know nothing else. May I go please?" The priest looked between the two men.

"_Un momento, por favor." _Matt knelt down in front of her. "How long have you worked for Sr. King?"

"Eighteen months or so."

"He keeps you there longer than the others. Why?"

She gave a grim smile. "He likes my cooking."

"Please don't say anything about this meeting – okay?" He slipped her one of his cards. "If you have something else to tell us or you need help call this number here." He pointed to the cell phone number.

_"Está bien. Muchas gracias." _She stood up and the priest escorted her back out to the sanctuary.

Waiting until the door was closed, Matt blew out a breath. "That poor woman is scared to death of him. Can you imagine what it's like to live for a year and half with someone that scares the hell out of you?" He began pacing back and forth across the office.

"I don't think we're going to be able to get anything done until tomorrow, Houston." The deputy headed for the door. "How about we go on to the house? I only came in this morning to check up on you and see if anything had changed since last night." Matt nodded and the pair left the same way they had come in.

The trip out to Wally Simmons' home took about twenty minutes, most of which Matt spent on the phone to CJ updating her about what they had learned and where he would be staying.

"Hon, I know you're aggravated about not being able to get to this guy until tomorrow, but is there something else wrong?"

"Yeah – I'm pissed because I want to be home right now instead of chasing some jackass who likes to collect bones around the freakin' Mojave Desert."

"Sweetie, calm down, okay? Think of it like this: you're probably going to have a good time this afternoon hanging out with Wally. He sounds like a nice guy. Just relax and enjoy yourself for a little while and then tomorrow you can probably critter him." She used his favorite term. "And you might be able to come on home after that. Even if you need to stay a little longer it's okay: we understand." She waited but he didn't say anything. "Okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He still wasn't happy but she could tell she had at least calmed him down a little bit.

"Oh, I've got some good news for you. The truck that you ordered for Vince is right on schedule."

"Good." He thought for a minute. "You know, maybe I should talk to Michael about it before I drop the truck on him – so to speak." They both laughed. "It might not be a good idea from the department's point of view, you know?"

"That's true. How do you want to handle it?"

"Well, it's already ordered. If he tells me he can't accept it we could send it to the ranch in Texas."

"That sounds like a good idea. I've got a feeling that you're going to need some more help down there before much longer, hon."

"Yeah, Marty and I were talking about that over Thanksgiving. He's started looking around for another good hand. We're just gonna add them as we need 'em." He sighed. "I miss you, Babe."

"But that's good in a way, right? 'Cause when you get back home..." She used a sultry voice to speak the last part.

"See – now that's part of the problem..." He laughed.

"I'll be here waiting for you, Cowboy. You know that."

"Yeah. Guess I better get off of here and pay attention to where I'm going. Love you, CJ."

"Love you, too...and be ready, you might just get a surprise tonight." She hung up the phone and left him hanging on the other end of the line wondering just what in the hell she meant.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

Fortunately for Matt, the afternoon passed quickly. Tammy and Wally had turned their backyard into a desert oasis. The swimming pool was half in the sun and half in the shade of a couple of palm trees and Tammy made some of the best margaritas that Matt had had in a long time. As they sat in the cool shade of the pool sipping on the drinks, Matt thought to himself that CJ had been right – he needed to just relax a little bit.

"So Houston, tell me about your wife – Wally says that she works with you at the detective agency?"

"Yes ma'am. She graduated from Harvard Law School and came to work for me back when I still had Houston Industries." He took a sip of margarita and grinned. "Before that..." He paused and laughed. "We were best friends since the day we met when we were ten years old."

"Aw, that's so sweet! Kinda like Wally and me – we met in fifth grade." The couple shared a look and then cracked up. "He was so shocked when he saw me he dropped his lunch tray in my lap." All three started laughing then. "We've been together ever since."

Matt shook his head and then explained how he and CJ had met while riding fences after a big storm. "She was stubborn...still is, but I wouldn't change her for anything. She's perfect." He took another sip. "So Wally tells me y'all have a daughter at school in San Francisco."

"Sure do." The cop reached over for his phone at the side of the pool and pulled up a picture of the girl, handing the phone over to Matt. "That's Sarah Jane. She's a sophomore at San Francisco State."

"She's beautiful." He handed the phone back. "Mine isn't quite ready for college yet." Grinning he pulled up a picture of CJ and Catey on his own phone and handed it over.

"Aww, how sweet! She looks a lot like you – but she's got her mother's eyes." Tammy handed the phone back as Matt told them about Catey's first word. "And it wasn't Mama, or Daddy...it was Cricket – my horse." The three of them all burst into laughter.

After eating steaks cooked on the grill and a dessert of apple pie, Matt and Wally sat at the picnic table watching the last rays of the sun. "I can't believe how warm it's been lately. We can't usually use the pool this time of year. Highs are usually around sixty degrees or so – not the eighty two like we had today."

"It's been weird for sure." Matt had changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt after getting out of the pool earlier. Talk turned to cattle and the ranching business and then Matt caught himself yawning just as Wally did. They looked at each other and chuckled. "I think I'm going to turn in." Both men got up and headed into the house where Matt thanked Tammy once again for her hospitality before going to his room for the night.

Just as he closed the door and reached for his bag for a pair of shorts to sleep in, his phone buzzed. It was a text from CJ. _Whatcha wearin?_

"Oh boy, that's what she meant. Hot damn!" He grinned as he plopped down on the bed and sent a reply.

Matt had his alarm set for 6:00AM Monday morning. He sat up on the side of the bed and yawned before wandering into the adjoining bathroom for a shower. Since he didn't know how long he would be staying, the PI packed his bag and left it in the bedroom. When he found his way to the kitchen, Tammy was removing the last of the pancakes from the griddle. "Oh boy – almost like home." He sat down at the table as Wally came through the door yawning.

"Mornin'." The cop poured a cup of coffee and sat down opposite of Matt and both men dug into the stacks of pancakes in front of them.

"Mmph." Matt swallowed and wiped his mouth. "These are great." After a swig of coffee, he looked across at Wally. "How long do you think the warrant will take?"

"If I can get hold of the right ADA – not long." Both men hurried through breakfast and then hit the road to the sub-station. "I already sent the request over before breakfast. If my buddy there is on time for work," he glanced at his watch, "we should have an answer in about half an hour." He hit the button on the coffee maker and started going through his email as Matt did the same on his laptop. After making sure Wally wasn't looking, he tapped into the satellite program. Nothing looked out of place.

Thirty minutes later Wally nodded and turned to the printer. "Here we go." He started pulling off the pages as Matt closed the computer and put it into the case. "I'm going to suggest that you "_stay_" in the SUV when I go to serve the warrant. Knowing King and Arino there's going to be a lot of arguing about the whole thing. Whatever you do, don't take longer than five minutes…I'm not sure how long I can stall them."

"Sounds fair." Matt pulled a couple of the critters out and handed them to the cop. "If you can find a good place for these inside, you know what to do, right?"

"Flip the switch and wait for 'em to say cheese."

"Yup." Matt put a few of the critters into his shirt pocket and picked up his case following Wally out of the office and stopping at the counter with him as he got a couple of deputies to go along and help him serve the warrant, stressing that he was trying to keep them inside the house at least five minutes. Puzzled, the two men agreed and went to their patrol cars.

When they reached the King estate, it took about ten minutes for the man to agree to open up the gates. Once inside, Matt pretended to be texting on his phone as Wally and the two deputies went to the front door of the house. That was the first time he laid eyes on King and his radar went on high alert. Every fiber of his being told Matt that this guy was the collector. Something in his manner just seemed to mock the very fact that the cops were standing on his doorstep. A couple of minutes later, the deputies followed the man into the house and Matt quietly opened the door of the SUV and slid out between it and the patrol car parked next to it. After making his way to the back of the vehicle, the PI quickly ran across to the barn, careful to try to avoid the surveillance cameras. Although he doubted that King was watching them at the moment, he wanted to prevent calling attention to himself. The barn had a pretty sophisticated lock on it that took Matt a little longer than he would have liked to get it open. Once inside he saw that the vehicles were stored there. "Sure, put the cars in the barn. It's not like you've got a garage or anything." Realizing that once again he was talking to himself, the PI put away the lock picks and went to every vehicle and put a critter on it. The last one he came to was a specially-made motor home, just like he had expected. He snapped a few pictures of it and then put the critter on it. Headed for the door, he heard the sound of voices being raised. "Damn."

Matt fastened the lock behind him as he left the building and then peeked around the end. He jogged quickly and quietly across to the back of the SUV where he slid back inside. As Wally approached the vehicle, Matt had his hat down over his eyes as if napping. Arino was loaded into the back of a patrol car as Wally started the engine and began rolling back down the driveway. He didn't speak until they were on the road. "I got one critter in the study. Couldn't get the other one anywhere good."

"I got all of the vehicles – including the motor home." Matt raised the cowboy hat off of his face and grinned.

"Phew! I was sure worried." Simmons laughed. "Arino will be out in no time. King was on the phone with his lawyer before we left."

"Good thing I already activated them there critters." The PI pulled out the laptop and pulled up the BugBytes program. He turned up the volume and turned the laptop so that his new friend would be able to see.

"I don't like it, Pyle. I smell a rat – and you better get rid of it, you hear me?!" King looked like he was ready to foam at the mouth. They couldn't hear the other end of the conversation but it didn't last much longer as King slammed the phone.

"Kinda got a hot temper, huh?" Matt snickered.

"Those critters of yours are great." He drove on and as they neared the station he looked over at Matt. "So how do you want to handle this now?"

"I think I'm going to go back to your house. The less I'm seen around the better. I can keep tabs on what's going on there and let you know if anything happens, but if it doesn't pretty soon I'm going to head home. CJ can keep an eye on the critters for us while I'm on the road. Then when something breaks, I'll catch up with him."

"Sounds good. Although I seriously doubt that he'll jump up and do anything today. That warrant shook him up pretty good."

"Good. Now maybe he'll do something stupid and we can nail him to the wall." They drove back to the station and Matt stayed in the SUV until Arino had been taken inside the building and then got into his truck and went back to the Simmons home. He sat up shop on the kitchen table and called CJ to let her know what was going on. He re-wound the surveillance video back to where he had left off. Other than the fact that every other word out of King's mouth was of the four letter variety, Matt really didn't hear anything else incriminating. At four o'clock he called Wally and told him that he was heading home and would be in touch with him.

After thanking Tammy again for her hospitality, Matt headed out for home and called CJ to let her know, then called Bateaux to bring him up to date. When the FBI agent found out about the "crittering" of King's ranch he laughed. "Hoyt called me earlier and we talked for a while. He told me that I would probably be hearing about the critters before too long. Looks like he was right."

"Yeah, he is occasionally – but don't tell him I said that." Matt laughed. "I'm going home. I can keep track of things from there and I can get back up to Lone Pine pretty quick if I need to do it." They talked on for a few minutes and then Matt hung up and popped in another CD that he had found and sang most of the way home.

Pulling in up in the driveway, he was met by a committee of four ladies: CJ, Catey, Sheila, and of course Tilly. After a kiss from CJ and a sloppy kiss from Catey, Matt even got a hug from Sheila. "You must have really missed me, huh?" He grinned as they walked up to the house, Tilly jumping and barking. He handed Catey off to CJ and knelt down, only to be attacked by the dog who nearly gave him a bath.

Matt took care of Catey from the time he walked in the door until she went to bed. Later on that night he was sitting in the recliner with the laptop on, watching both the surveillance feed from the critter inside the house and occasionally the satellite feed. Everything in the house had gotten quiet after Catey went to bed and CJ went to take a shower. Tilly had come back to sit with him in the recliner and Sheila came back into the living room. Matt looked over at the nanny. "Wanna watch?"

"Sure. Maybe I can be a private eye in training." She came over and sat down as he turned the laptop where she could see it. After a few minutes, Sheila finally asked him something that she had been wondering since Matt solved the murder of her husband. "I want to ask you a question."

"Okay. Shoot."

"When Charles was killed and you were tracking down the idiots…you showed me a satellite picture and told me not to ask…"

He gave her a small smile. "And here you are asking." She nodded. Matt took a big breath and sighed. "Well hell…can you keep a secret and never say anything about it again…ever?"

"I can."

"I bought a used Russian satellite a few months after CJ and I were married. I was trying to track down somebody in another country. Let's just say I found them and nobody will ever have to worry about them again."

"That's what I had just about figured out. Not the Russian part…but I thought after a few things that I've seen and heard that you might have been involved with that. And Charles didn't know who it was, but he had come to the conclusion that the government had hired someone to track that guy down."

"They didn't hire me, but they sure didn't mind the help." Matt reached out and began petting on Tilly who was nuzzling his hand.

"But you went in there…I saw that scar on your shoulder. That's from a 50 cal. Charles had one just like it." She watched as Matt kept his eyes on the dog. "Thank you for that. And for everything else that you've done." Reaching over she patted his arm and he nodded.

"So…" He looked back up as he changed the subject. "Wanna see the new jerk I'm tracking now?" Grinning he turned the computer a little bit more.

King was sitting at his desk in the study where Wally Simmons had planted the critter. "Oh – he is an ugly lookin' little something!" Sheila cracked up. "He just looks…demented, you know?"

"Yup." Matt turned it back. He got quiet as they sat there watching. "Actually…" Looking over at her, he nodded. "I'm glad you know about the satellite. We have to do things like this sometimes and it can be hard to hide it. But I don't want anyone else other than CJ, you, Uncle Roy, or me to see it here. That includes Catey when she gets older. Oh, and Vince and Michael know about it, too."

CJ walked in and looked at Matt. "Good. I've been thinking that we should tell her." She smiled at the nanny.

"Oh, she's bucking to become a private eye now." Matt smiled. "She figured out the other part, too."

"A 50 cal scar isn't too easy to hide, Cowboy." She slid into the other side of the recliner with him, kissing him on the cheek.

There was a knock on the door to King's study. "Come in." Ramon Arino walked in and closed the door behind him. "Sit down." The foreman sat on the couch to the left of King's desk. "What have I told you about drawing attention to yourself?" Arino nodded. "I know you had the damn money. Why didn't you pay her like you were supposed to?"

"She's been getting to be a pain in the ass. I thought it would teach her a lesson."

"And all it did was allow the cops a chance to come on the property."

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not. You know what happened to the last person who crossed me, Ramon." The foreman nodded. "Now – I want the RV ready to roll out of here Wednesday morning."

"I'll take care of it first thing in the morning." Arino got up and left.

Matt pulled out his phone and called Wally and then Bateaux. They arranged for Matt and the FBI agent to fly up to Lone Pine the next day in the chopper and would be operating out of the Simmons' home. When he hung up, King had left the study and turned out the light. Matt closed the laptop and looked at CJ. "Maybe tomorrow will be the end of it."

"I hope so." CJ reached over to pat on Tilly. "She really has missed you."

"I missed her, too." He handed the laptop to CJ who put it on the end table. Tilly crawled up and laid her head on his chest causing all three to laugh.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

Tuesday morning at 7:00AM, Matt and CJ stepped off of the elevator at the penthouse offices of Houston Investigations. Chris had just arrived a few minutes earlier. "Hi there, stranger." She gave Matt a big smile. "I thought maybe you had decided to open an office somewhere else."

"Naw, I wouldn't be able to torment Hoyt if I did." He and CJ went on up into the office and Matt went behind the bar to pour a cup of coffee. CJ sat down on one of the bar stools and took the cup that he handed across to her.

"So what's the plan exactly? I know you're going to go up and monitor him with the satellite, but then what?"

"Depending on where he goes, we'll contact the locals and have them to help us out. My biggest problem as I see it is telling Bateaux about the satellite. He's going to have to keep an eye on it while I'm flying…unless I hang back and he…" Matt shook his head. "More people know about it than I want. But I don't see that I really have a choice in this case."

"Hon, I'm perfectly capable of keeping an eye on it from here and you can take care of the flying – or did you forget?"

"See, that's another reason that I married you." He leaned across the bar and kissed her.

Matt and Bateaux left about 8:00 and hit LAX to top off the fuel before turning north to Lone Pine. He landed just behind the Simmons' house and he and the FBI agent headed up toward the house. Tammy was waiting on them with a pot of coffee and fresh baked cinnamon rolls. After introducing the two, Matt sat down and pulled the laptop out of the case. "Miss Tammy, I'm going to get spoiled if I stay here too much longer." The PI grinned as he took a bite of cinnamon roll. "Umh…really good."

"These are absolutely delicious, Mrs. Simmons." Bateaux was grinning as he looked over at Matt. "I should work with you more often."

"Somebody write this down and get it notarized. That's the first time I've heard that from the FBI!" He laughed. "Alright, let's see what King's been up to since we left LA." He went back in the recorded surveillance and they ran through it. "Not much yet. But we know that tomorrow we'll be moving more than likely. I'm just hoping that we'll get a heads up on where he's going so we can try to line up some help."

"I just hope it won't be too far off." Bateaux sat and thoughtfully looked at the surveillance feed. "He's back."

Alex, Matt, and Tammy all three were watching the screen. Matt pulled over a chair for her and she sat down. Whispering she said, "I always wanted to go on a stakeout with Wally."

Matt whispered back. "He can't hear us," then cracked up when he saw the expression on her face. She swatted at his arm and the three continued to watch as King sat down and opened a laptop on his desk. The PI pulled out his phone and called CJ. "Hey, Chris…is CJ still there? Uh huh." He waited. "Hey, would you see if you can…see, there's another reason I married you." He laughed. "I'm gonna put you on speaker so don't talk dirty, okay?" He punched the button and set the phone on the table. "Tammy, meet my wife CJ. CJ, this is Tammy." Both women giggled and said hello. "So have you gotten through his firewall yet?"

"I'm working on that now…" There was a pause and all three could hear keystrokes in the background. "There we go. I'm in." Another pause ensued. "He is looking on Goggle Maps right now…" Houston and Bateaux looked at each other grinning. "Arizona…Parker, Arizona to be exact."

"Good. Sheriff Garza is easy to work with." Matt looked over at Bateaux who nodded.

"Hon, he's looking at the area just to the southeast of the airport again. As a matter of fact…" She was quiet for a minute. "Holy cow…" There was a flurry of keystrokes. "That son of a…guys, you aren't going to believe this, but he's got flags on several spots right around there. Evidently he's dropped more than a few in that area. And he just added another flag…and marked it with tomorrow's date."

"Babe, after he gets off the computer do you think you can see the rest of his maps?"

"I can…I've already got his password so I can look at anything associated with the account now. Do you want me to back off until he logs out?"

"That might be a good idea." Matt looked over at Bateaux.

"Mrs. Houston, you are really good at this." The FBI agent was surprised.

"Well thank you. I had a good teacher. And call me CJ, okay?"

"Yes ma'am. I won't ask who the teacher was." He cut his eyes over at Matt who was grinning.

"You done good, Babe." He raised up the cup of coffee and started to take a sip.

"Well thank you. I might have to ask the boss for a raise." The cowboy started coughing and set Alex and Tammy into peals of laughter.

"No problem." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot: Roy is going through some cold cases for Michael. He said he felt like that would be a good way to ease back into work."

"As long as he doesn't overdo it, that's fine by me. I'm glad he's coming back. Okay, we're going to talk to Sheriff Garza and give him a heads up and I think the wise move for us would be to go on to Parker today."

"It would." Bateaux agreed.

"I'll call you back when I know more. You girls be careful today."

"We will. Love you, Cowboy. Be careful."

"I will. Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up as Alex was dialing Garza's number and put his phone on speaker. They arranged to meet him at the airport when they landed and then headed on out to the chopper after thanking Tammy once again before taking off for Parker, Arizona.

The familiar SUV from the La Paz County Sheriff's Department was waiting at the Avi Suquilla Airport when Matt landed the helicopter. "Houston, Alex – good to see you again." Manuel Garza shook their hands. "I didn't figure you would be back so soon."

"I don't think either one of us did either." Alex took his bag from Matt and both men walked over to the SUV. After tossing the bags in the back, Matt turned to Garza.

"I'm going to get the chopper squared away – be back in a minute."

"Sure thing." Garza leaned against the side of the vehicle as he and the FBI agent began to talk. Matt came back a couple of minutes later and the three left for the office.

Sitting down across from Garza, Matt opened his laptop and pulled up his video conference program. "Hey Wally, you there?"

"Yep, sure am." Wally Simmons waved as Matt pulled up another screen, this one for CJ.

"Hey Babe, all set?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Sheriff Manuel Garza this is my wife CJ and that fella there is Det. Wally Simmons with the Inyo County Sheriff's Department."

"Nice to meet you." Garza grinned.

"Hi!" CJ waved at everyone.

"Howdy." Wally leaned back in his chair and picked up a cup of coffee.

"Babe, can you bring us up to date on what you've found so far?"

"Sure." She went on to tell them about each of the flags that were placed on King's Goggle Maps account. "Not all of these have been found yet. Sheriff Garza, there are two more in your area that haven't been recovered. Both are really close to the last one that was found."

"Son of a gun…thank you."

"You're more than welcome." She took a sip of coffee. "Also, I've been listening to the conversations between King and his attorney Pyle – actually only King's end of it and he is on high alert. He told Pyle to monitor the happenings around the courthouse in Independence. From the way they were talking he has someone on the payroll there."

"Thanks for that tidbit." Wally was taking notes.

"He and Arino spoke again about 11:00AM – the RV is ready to go and they were talking about loading it. Somehow I don't think they were referring to coffee or pork-n-beans." All four men chuckled. "Other than that it's been pretty quiet."

"Alright, thanks Babe." Matt took a drink of coffee.

"Matt, I need to talk to you privately, please."

"Yes ma'am. I'll call you in just a minute." He looked at Garza and Bateaux then at Wally on the screen. "Anything else guys?"

"Not for me. I'll let you know if I see anything else." Wally put down his pen.

"Okay Bud, I'll talk to ya later."

"See ya!" Wally disappeared from the screen.

"Nice to meet you, Sheriff." CJ smiled.

"Likewise – and call me Manuel."

"Later guys." She clicked off and Matt closed the laptop.

"If y'all will excuse me for a minute…"The PI stood and stretched.

"By all means – don't keep a gorgeous lady waiting." Garza grinned, watching as Matt walked out onto the sidewalk and dialed his phone. "You know, that wife of his seems like a pretty nice lady…and I do mean pretty."

"She is and just as nice as can be." Bateaux laughed. "Houston was right."

"Oh, what about?"

"When Lt. Hoyt took me to his ranch to introduce us he refused to even take a look at it without CJ. Said it was both of them or neither one at all. Hoyt said they were a package deal. Hell, Houston got so mad he told me to leave." Both men cracked up. "And she is smart – she's a lawyer. Graduated from Harvard."

"Damn. That ain't easy."

Outside Matt was talking to CJ about the satellite. "We can take shifts tonight. If you can keep an eye on it until I can get alone I'll take it back after that."

"I can do that. Hon,…" She paused. "Did you remember your vest?"

"I did – it's in my bag…never got unpacked."

"Okay. You just be extra careful. King seems like a sociopath to me."

"Yep, I agree. Trust me – after what I've seen – I won't hesitate to shoot."

"Good. Okay, let me know when you're ready to take it for a while."

"Thanks." He kicked at a piece of gravel. "I miss you."

"Miss you, too, Cowboy. Love you."

"Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and sighed as he headed back inside.

Matt and Alex were treated to a fried chicken dinner that night at the Garza home before being dropped at the hotel around the corner from the Sheriff's Department. As soon as he got into the room, Matt called CJ and let her know. She left the office and headed home, and he set the laptop on the bathroom counter and grabbed a quick shower, sneaking a look at the monitor occasionally. There hadn't been any movement in or around the barn since Arino had gone in to get the RV ready for the trip.

Matt pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt before settling down on the bed with his Fire Investigation books to review for his upcoming exam. There was a knock on his door forty five minutes later and he opened it to find Alex standing there with a six pack of beer. "Thirsty?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah." He stood back and let the agent enter. "Grab a seat wherever." Bateaux sat down in the chair by the window and pulled two beers out of the carton, handing one over to the PI. "Thanks."

"Here's to nailing King tomorrow." The two bottles clanked together in a toast. Alex looked over at the books on the bed. "Fire Investigation, huh? Are you trying to get in good with the ATF?"

"You know, I hadn't thought of that." Matt laughed. "I've been asked to be a consultant to the Fire Marshal's office, kind of like I am to the LAPD. They wanted me to take a few classes to bring me up to speed on some of the stuff I might encounter and so I would know what to look for when I go into a scene."

"Pretty good. You know when I was a kid I wanted to be a fireman." Bateaux laughed. "Guess it was the engine that got me interested. As I got older walking into a burning building didn't seem like such a good idea."

"It isn't for the faint of heart, I'll tell ya that. Walking into a burning building is…surreal I guess would be a good term. It's scary as hell but at the same time it's really interesting."

"So you've actually gone in one?"

"Yeah, my first was a hotel fire…it was also almost my last." He explained what had happened to him about a month earlier when he had been exposed to hydrogen cyanide gas while rescuing an elderly man from the building.

"That's unbelievable." Alex took a long drink of the beer. "I bet you never get bored."

Matt laughed. "No, I'm usually too busy to get bored. It seems like there's hardly ever a break."

"Why do you do it? I mean…not to be rude or anything, but you don't HAVE to work."

"No, but I just…" Matt sighed. "It sounds corny but I want to help people and I'm pretty good at what I do. Of course without CJ…" He shook his head. "I wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for her."

"After today I understand why you refused to even look at the case without her. She is one sharp lady."

"Yeah, she is." The PI took a big swig of the beer.


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16**

Wednesday morning at 5:30AM Matt's alarm went off. He checked the satellite feed and then the tracking devices, got dressed and packed his bag, all the while hoping that he would be back home with his family that night. He checked his Glock and spare magazines and made sure that the pistol, holster, and vest were on the top of his other gear where he could get to them quickly and easily. As he double-checked the hotel room to make sure nothing was left behind and walked out of the door at 6:00AM, Matt saw Alex emerging from his room as well. The pair met up at the stairs. "Mornin'." Matt settled the white straw cowboy hat on his head.

"Good morning." Alex looked around as they went down the steps and turned the corner toward the office. After checking out, they set out on foot for the Sheriff's Department around the corner when they heard a honk behind them. Manuel Garza stopped and rolled down the window on the SUV.

"Get in…we don't allow riff raff out on these streets." He laughed as the pair tossed their bags inside and sat down. "Thought I'd treat you boys to a nice breakfast this morning."

"Alright." Matt was in the backseat and reached for his phone as it rang. "Mornin', Babe." He listened for a minute. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea…You did? Aha so…heheheh…It's a good thing I didn't put it on speaker." He cracked up. "Alright, talk to you in a little while…Yes ma'am, I promise. Love you, too. 'Bye." He hung up.

Alex was turned around in his seat looking at the private eye who had a big smile on his face. "So?"

"So she said that King just hit the road."

"And?" Garza was smiling as he looked at Matt in the rearview mirror.

"She told me to be careful."

The two men in the front of the SUV continued at the same time. "AND?!"

"None of your business." The cowboy grinned.

"Man, I can't believe you're holding out on us like that!" Garza cracked up as they pulled into the parking lot of the Waffle Hut.

Grinning as he exited the vehicle, Matt adjusted the hat on his head and the three walked inside and slid into a booth at the back of the restaurant. When they had ordered and the coffee was served, Garza leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I've been thinking: it seems like our best bet is to hide out in the rocks and just catch King as he drops the body." Both of the other men nodded. "I'm going to have Dan Plankman drop us off and then set up a little ways away out of sight and have a couple of cars stationed at the airport for more backup."

"Sounds logical. And when you consider that he'll be in the RV, a quick getaway isn't really an option for him." Bateaux sipped his coffee. "I've got a federal judge ready to sign off on a search warrant of King's estate the minute we take him into custody. Wally Simmons and a couple of agents from the LA office will be standing by ready to move in."

Matt took a drink. "I wonder how much resistance they'll get from Arino?"

"Don't know. It would be in his best interest to cooperate. He's already an accessory."

After breakfast Matt called CJ to get an update on King's movements. "He's moving at the speed limit." They loaded up and went to the Sheriff's Department where they met up with Dan Plankman and two other deputies and made their plans. As they got ready to head out, Matt pulled his equipment out of the bag and geared up as did everyone else.

Just as they were about to load up the PI's phone rang. "Yes ma'am?" He listened. "Uh huh…okay. Text me when he's about to pass the airport, will you? Okay, thanks. Yes ma'am, I already have. Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and gave the others a grim smile. "It seems that King might be getting nervous. He's picked up speed."

"So much for not drawing attention." Alex slapped the Velcro closure on his vest.

"You know, it might be wise to contact law enforcement along his route and get them to steer clear of him." Matt adjusted the hat on his head.

Alex pulled out his phone and made a call as did Garza, alerting the rest of the deputies in the county to leave the RV alone. He hung up and they waited as Alex made arrangements for the highway patrol and others to be notified. "Done." They loaded up and took off for the southwestern end of the Buckskin Mountains where the other bodies had been found. They got out of the SUV and climbed up to hide behind some of the rocks. Matt checked his phone to make sure he was getting a signal. The three got as comfortable as possible and waited.

Punching Matt in the arm, Garza grinned. "So what did the little lady say to you this morning?"

"Nunya." The PI grinned.

"Hey Fed, see if you can pull rank on him and get the information. It might be relevant to the case."

"Alright PI, spill the beans." Alex tried for an official voice and stern expression which just caused Matt to laugh even more.

"Nope. Not sayin'."

"It didn't work. Got anymore good ideas?" Alex leaned forward and looked around Matt at the sheriff.

"Chinese water torture?" Garza shrugged his shoulders. A minute later he suddenly moved and swatted at the seat of his pants.

"What the hell?" Alex looked up.

Matt snickered and stood up. "The sheriff here sat on an ant hill." He turned and leaned against the rock that they were hiding behind, watching as Garza continued to swat at his clothes. "Good thing they aren't fire ants." He grinned as a few colorful phrases were employed by the sheriff.

A couple of minutes later, the PI's phone buzzed. "It's CJ. He's passing the airport now." Matt pulled his pistol from his holster as did Bateaux and Garza. They waited and in a few minutes heard the sound of an engine approaching and then heard as it stopped nearby. Peeking out from behind the rock, Bateaux nodded, letting Matt know that it was King down below them.

They could hear the sound of a door opening, and then the sound of something dragging across the ground. Bateaux gave the signal to move in and the three ran out from behind the rocks and down toward King, their pistols trained on him. "FBI! Freeze, King!" Alex was the first one down the hill followed by Matt and Manuel. King appeared to be in shock and then tried to run to the RV. Bateaux fired a warning shot in the air and brought the killer to a stop.

"I've got this thing rigged to blow up. You better get away from me." King turned and gave them a crazed smile.

"Down on the ground." Garza motioned with his pistol.

"I'm telling you…"

"And we're telling you – GET DOWN ON THE GROUND, NOW!" Bateaux was closest to the man and pulled out his cuffs.

"Alright. But you can't say I didn't warn you." He began to laugh as the FBI agent tightened the cuffs on his wrists and patted him down. Garza had called the other officers in and Matt slid underneath the RV to look for explosives.

"Please tell me you know what you're looking for under there." Bateaux had jerked King to his feet and he was being taken away by one of the deputies.

"Sure…" Matt grunted as he slid along underneath the camper. "Something that might go boom." Garza and Bateaux exchanged a look. The PI continued moving underneath the RV until he had gone from back to front and then stepped up inside of it. He had the pistol out, just in case, and cleared the trailer along with Garza. He then began checking out the different areas.

"Sheriff…" Dan Plankman was standing at the door. "He says you've got about two minutes before it blows – give or take."

"Give or take?! The bastard." Garza was looking over the cab of the RV and Matt hit the kitchen. He opened the stove up and called to the sheriff.

"He's got it rigged alright." Carefully looking at both sides of the oven door, the PI lifted it off of the hinges and set it to the side. There at the back of the oven was a simple little bomb constructed of C4 and a watch. Matt reached in and carefully pulled it towards him.

"Should you do that?" Garza jumped as Bateaux ran up the steps and into the rig. "Easy, man!"

"He really did it. That…_bâtard!_"

"Okay fellas, everybody just calm down…" Matt eased the bomb out of the oven and carefully stood up and walked to the door as Alex stepped out of his way. He walked a little ways away and then suddenly brought his right arm back and threw the device into the desert and ran back toward the trailer. It exploded as soon as it hit the ground, sending up a shower of dirt. Matt slowed down and ambled back the rest of the way, taking off the cowboy hat and wiping the sweat band with a bandana he pulled out of his pocket before dusting off the dirt from the explosion and grinning at the other three men. "Seventeen years of football comes in handy now and then…not to mention baseball." He settled the hat back down on his head and headed toward the SUV.

Back at the ranch in Los Angeles, a collective sigh of relief from CJ and Sheila went up. They had been watching the entire thing play out on the computer. "Does he do stuff like that all the time?" The nanny looked at CJ.

"Well, technically no – not ALL the time – but a helluva lot more than I would like." She grinned at the look on Sheila's face.

"Girl, you have been around him TOO long."

Late that afternoon, Matt landed the helicopter at the house and as the blades began to slow down their rotation, he slipped out of the cockpit and grabbed his bag, headed across the yard to the patio where CJ and Catey along with Tilly were waiting for him. The dog waited until CJ told her it was okay before running out to greet her friend. She jumped and barked at him as he made his way over to the others. Sheila came out of the kitchen as he reached them. Dropping his bag, he pulled CJ and Catey into his arms and gave both of them a kiss. "Daddy!" Catey was squealing, glad to see him home once again.

"Hey there, Lady Bug." He took the baby from CJ and knelt down to pat on Tilly. "And how is Tilly today?" The half Blue Heeler/half Husky mix rolled on the ground at his feet as he reached out to pet on her. He stood back up and shifted Catey over to his right arm. "You're getting heavy, girl." He laughed as she grabbed at his nose. They headed into the house and Matt sat the baby down in her walker. "So did you miss me, too?" He looked over at Sheila.

"I don't know…" She threw her head in the air and walked over to the stove and began stirring the contents of a pot.

"Uh oh…what did I do this time?" He looked at CJ who rolled her eyes and grinned.

"What did you do? Really?" Sheila turned and looked at him. "You pulled a bomb out of a trailer and walked around with it before you tossed it away, and yet you stand there asking what did I do?"

"Sheila, that's part of my job."

"Uh huh. Now I understand why you ended up in the hospital so much." She sniffed and turned back toward the stove.

Matt looked at CJ for guidance but all he got was more eye-rolling and smiling. "Something smells good in here. Whatcha cookin'?" He leaned over and attempted to take a look, receiving a rap on his knuckles with the wooden spoon that the nanny held. "Hey now…"

"Don't you hey now me, mister big shot private eye." She turned back to face him. "Here we sit worried about you and you act like nothing happened."

"Nothing happened, Sheila." He was grinning from ear to ear.

"But it might have."

"Mites are on a chicken's butt, too." He stood looking at her for a few seconds before she came after him with the spoon, chasing him into the den as CJ and Catey laughed at the pair.

The next day, Matt met with Alex and they attempted to interrogate King, but got nowhere; his attorney had shown up and their suspect was answering practically every question with a reference to the Fifth Amendment. After giving up and sending King back to lockup, Alex and Matt walked down the hallway together. "So what do you think his motivation was?" The FBI agent looked to the PI who shook his head.

"Don't know – but I got to wondering something last night. There is a difference in the male and female skeleton…"

"You think he might have been planning on one of each?"

"Did Wally find anything on the Lone Pine property?"

"Mortuary equipment. He was basically removing the fluids and mummifying them. Plus he found the pistol that was used on Loggenfelter and Bracken."

"But no skeletons?"

"Nope."

"That could put a crimp in the case." They stepped out into the sunlight. "But we can connect him to Loggenfelter and Bracken for sure – not to mention a butt load of abuse of a corpse charges." He looked around and adjusted the Stetson. "I would feel a lot better if we could load him down with murder charges, though." He paused as the agent answered his phone.

"Hi, Wally…no." The agent looked at Matt, an angry expression on his face. "Thanks for letting me know. Yeah, he's here…I'll tell him. See ya." Blowing out a breath as he disconnected the call he looked at Houston. "Arino killed himself last night in his cell." He had been booked in at the Inyo County Jail since the FBI agents had still been investigating the King estate.

"So now we don't have him to help." Matt shook his head and looked around. "We couldn't have been lucky enough for King to do himself in, huh?"

"Apparently not." The two men moved toward the parking lot.

"I'm not going to rest easy until he's locked up and the key is thrown away – or he's six feet under."

"Me either."


End file.
